The Challenges Ahead
by taigakitsune
Summary: Kyoko is offered the lead role in a movie alongside Ren. Will she accept it? And will Ren be able to control himself if she does?
1. Chapter 1

Kyoko still wasn't used to how many roles were now open to her after her success with finding her "Natsu" in Box R. But she was especially surprised when Sawara-san called her into his office to tell her that Director Seiji Shingai had offered her a leading role in a movie he was directing. She hadn't seen or thought of Director Shingai since the time when she had first started the Love-Me Section and had acted against Ruriko. She was very pleased that Director Shingai had remembered her and wanted her for a role.

When Kyoko found out her role would be the heroine of the story and not a Mio-like character Kyoko felt that she was definitely on the path to beating Shotaro. But then Sawara-san told Kyoko that her romantic lead would be Ren Tsuruga Kyoko's happiness diminished. Sawara-san noticed the change in Kyoko and wondered what was the cause; from what he'd seen Kyoko and Ren's relationship was much better than when they had first met, and that they were even in a close sempai-kohai relationship. So he was a bit concerned when Kyoko asked for time to think it over.

As Kyoko was pondering her new dilemma, and walking to deliver paperwork for her Love-Me duties, she walked into somebody sending the papers flying. She bowed her apologies and bent to retrieve the papers.

"This is nostalgic. Didn't we first bump into each other in this exact same spot when we first met?" said a very familiar warm voice.

Kyoko looked up and dropped the papers all over again. "Tsuruga-san!"

Ren was confused as to why Kyoko had been so shocked that she dropped the papers and helped her recollect them. As they stood he realized that Kyoko seemed anxious around him and he wondered why. Deciding to try to get her to open up he decided to bring up the movie that they would be in together.

"I heard from the President that we're both slated to star in the new Director Shingai movie" he stated.

"Uh, yes, I just talked to Sawara-san about it. I haven't decided yet whether to do it or not."

Ren felt shocked at this response, the role was definitely suited to her taste. What could possibly give her pause in accepting the role? He was about to ask when Kyoko said very hurriedly "Well, I have to deliver this. Sorry again Tsuruga-san!" and all but ran away leaving him very confused.

As Kyoko returned to the Love-Me office after delivering the papers she still felt her pulse pounding. She knew she no longer wanted to costar with Ren for fear that she might actually fall in love, but she knew this was a great opportunity for her. She badly wanted some advice but to tell Ren what was troubling her would undoubtedly bring out the Demon Lord. She couldn't possibly tell him she didn't want the role precisely because she didn't want to fall in love with him. That would incite a never before seen type of fury from the Demon Lord. She knew Ren noticed something was bothering her, but she couldn't tell him and he could see through her lies. But who else could she talk to? As she was asking herself this, the door to the office opened.

"Mo! I can't believe I still don't have enough jobs yet that I can't avoid coming in and doing this stupid Love-Me stuff!"

Kyoko turned to her best friend Kanae Kotonami, commonly known as Moko-san, with big happy eyes. Just when she needed someone to talk to, her beloved Moko-san had appeared as if answering her heart's call. Kyoko dived to give her a hug, but as always, Kanae sidestepped it easily.

"I told you to stop giving me those creepy eyes!"

"Moko, I need your advice."

Kanae was secretly glad to come in and see Kyoko. It had been a while since they had gotten together, and she had missed her friend. She had heard that Kyoko got along well with two of her costars in Box R and had spent time together outside work. Kanae was worried about being replaced and so was glad to hear Kyoko still needed her. So Kanae quickly agreed, and they changed out of their uniforms to leave.

As Ren and Yashiro were heading to the parking garage, Ren noticed Kanae and Kyoko leaving the building together and felt a twinge of jealousy that Kyoko was going to confide in Kanae instead of himself. But Ren knew eventually Kyoko would tell him what was bothering her, he would make sure of it.


	2. Chapter 2

Yashiro noticed Ren watching Kyoko and Kotonami-san's departure. They had just come from a meeting with the President about Ren's new role. The President no longer had any doubts that Ren could "act love" but was wondering whether Ren could handle "acting love" with _that_ particular costar, and if it was wise to let him do so. Ren assured the President he would be able to do it without any problems. But, inside, Ren wasn't too certain of that fact himself. When he and Kyoko had been practicing the night before his big "love acting" test, he had momentarily forgotten to act. Would he do the same thing on set? Was it really wise to costar with her when he knew despite the barriers he put to stop his feelings, his feelings grew anyway? Had already grown more than he could handle, and might continue to grow the more time they spent together. Ren knew why he should have reservations for accepting this role, but he didn't know why Kyoko had reservations.

"Did you talk to her?" Yashiro's voice cut into Ren's thoughts. Ren turned to his manager.

"Yes, we spoke for a bit earlier. She seems to be undecided on whether to accept the role or not."

Yashiro didn't say anything. He suspected he knew why, and he knew Ren wouldn't like the reason. Yashiro still remembered Kyoko's reaction to the confirmation that Ren could make his costar fall in love with him. All the blood had drained from her face, she shivered while saying she was terrified, and Yashiro had felt bad for Ren. Instead of mentioning this, Yashiro merely reminded Ren that Kyoko was the number one love absentee and that maybe a romance movie wasn't something she felt she could do. Ren felt that this was correct and began devising a plan on how to convince Kyoko to take the part.

Across town, at the Darumaya, Kanae had finished being introduced to the owners and was currently sitting in Kyoko's room staring at the posters of Sho Fuwa and Ren Tsuruga that were plastered on the wall. Kyoko had just finished explaining the reason for Ren's poster, what happened during the practice session at Ren's apartment, and the reasons for her confusion about the role offered to her.

"I used to want to act beside him, to make him flustered by my acting ability the way he made me flustered that first time. I acted the way he wanted me to act, and if he wants me to fall for him in the movie, I will and I don't want to feel that way again."

"But that was before, when you hadn't even started acting yet. Now you're able to get into your role, keep it separate from yourself the way you did with Mio and Natsu. You won't fall in love with him, your character will" pointed out Kanae.

"But you didn't see the Emperor of the Night. I can't handle him! If he came out again, I'd be helpless against him!" Kyoko wailed.

Kanae didn't know what to say. Was this Kyoko's way of saying she would have feelings for Tsuruga if she costarred with him despite being in character? Kanae had the feeling that Ren liked Kyoko romantically; he had gotten jealous about Kyoko being in Fuwa's PV, given her a rose for her birthday, had given Kyoko advice on acting, and certainly favored Kyoko more than he favored other actresses. If Ren did have feelings for Kyoko, and Kyoko took the part and fell for Ren too, Kyoko's status in the showbiz world was set and her revenge against Sho Fuwa would be complete. Truthfully, Kanae wasn't certain that Ren would be able to make Kyoko fall for him by the time the movie finished production, Kyoko had some solid walls around her heart and was determined not to fall in love again. But she did know this role was right for Kyoko on many different levels.

"You were able to act in front of Fuwa, weren't you? If you can be in character for that, you should be able to act with Tsuruga-san right?" asked Kanae.

That was certainly true. But Kyoko still felt uneasy and uncertain.

Kanae decided to say no more, she could see Kyoko's uncertainty and could see that Kyoko had very serious reservations about taking the role if it meant falling in love again. Kanae decided that she would ascertain Tsuruga's feelings before she pushed her friend into accepting the role; she didn't want her first friend to fall victim to heartbreak a second time.


	3. Chapter 3

While Kanae tried to figure out a way to get Tsuruga to show her, a practical stranger, his true feelings for Kyoko, Kyoko continued debating the pros and cons of the role in her mind.

She wanted to do the role because it was Director Shingai and because it would definitely get her noticed since her costar would be Ren Tsuruga. Also, her character would be a rich gentle heiress whose fiancé and childhood friend went overseas and was presumed to have died when the plane crashed. The heiress was so devastated she decided she would never marry anyone, learns how to run her company, and, in her spare time, works and volunteers at various charities; a modern princess and lady.

On the other hand, Kyoko no longer had the emotion of love. She didn't think she'd be able to act out love successfully. Her previous roles were bully roles without any love interests. Kyoko still remembered how she had crushed the cell phone during her LME newcomer audition, which was the reason why she was placed into the Love-Me Section in the first place. Kyoko would have to act out feelings of love with two people, Tsuruga-san's character and with the actor who plays her fiancé. Kyoko focused on the fiancé character, rather than Tsuruga-san's, and tried to think how she would act with a person she was supposed to have grown up with and loved. This immediately reminded her of Shotaro, and her grudge Kyokos came out in full force, startling Kanae out of her thoughts.

There was no need for Kanae to ask what Kyoko had been thinking about, the scary aura surrounding her friend could have only been called up by one man. Before she could say anything, the aura vanished leaving a very depressed looking Kyoko.

"As I thought, it is impossible. I can't do this role. I can't even think about love without thinking about him, then getting angry" Kyoko said to herself.

"Kyoko…" Kyoko's head popped up at the sound of her given name called by Kanae. "It's different than that. Both characters love you back. One of them even comes back from the dead for you."

Kyoko's eyes widened. It was true…it wasn't the same as with Sho. She had loved Sho, but Sho had walked away from her without looking back. But still, she didn't know how to act reciprocal love either.

As if reading her mind, Kanae said "If you're worried about not knowing how to act reciprocal love then just follow the script and act out what you think your character will be feeling. If that doesn't work, rely on your costars and Director Shingai to help lead the way."

When Kyoko still looked hesitant, Kanae reached the end of her patience. "Mo! If you're that worried about acting in love I could help train you. I've researched it before for my part time job."

"Really?! You'd do that for me Moko-san?! Thank you!!"

Kanae was still struggling to get Kyoko off her when Okami-san came in to announce that it was dinner time and to ask Kanae to spend the night there.

**A/N: Sorry it took so long to get out this chapter, I've had a bit of writers block. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed my story and left such encouraging comments. This story is only my second attempt at writing fanfic, so I'm very glad everyone likes it so far! ^_^**


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning Kyoko and Kanae arrived at the LME building together and went into the Love-Me office to change into their uniforms and finish off the work they had left behind the night before. They had a few new assignments and paperwork waiting for them. Around noon, all the assignments and the paperwork were finished, and Love-Me duo were about to have lunch. Kanae was leaving the office to buy drinks for the two of them, to go with the bento they had brought from Darumaya. When Kanae opened the door, she saw Ren Tsuruga and his manager walking towards the Love-Me office. Kanae quickly stepped out and shut the down behind her.

To Ren and Yashiro's eyes, Kanae Kotonami looked very much like an intimidating bulldog standing in front of the Love-Me Office.

"Good afternoon, uhm, Moko-san?" Yashiro said.

"It's Kotonami-san" Kanae replied, without taking her measuring stare off of Ren.

Ren had had very few interactions with Kanae, but he recognized the fact that Kanae was assessing whether or not to let Ren anywhere near her friend. A part of Ren admired her loyalty, while another part was wondering what Kyoko could have said to cause Kanae to see Ren as a threat to be guarded from.

"Is Mogami-san in the office today?" Ren asked.

"Yes. We're about to have lunch." Kanae replied without budging an inch from her position in front of the door.

In the silence that followed Ren tried not to blink under the fierce stare Kanae was still giving him. He felt it unwise to make Kanae his enemy, and she would be his enemy if he tried to force his way past her to get to Kyoko. But in the end, Ren couldn't help but break eye contact and look towards the office door. For Kanae, that was all the proof she needed that Ren Tsuruga was anxious to get inside to Kyoko and speak to her in private; Kanae had seen the slightest bit of longing in Ren's eyes. She sighed and decided to let Ren see Kyoko. Kanae walked up to Ren's side and said in a low voice, so that Kyoko wouldn't be able to hear what she said if Kyoko was near the door.

"I've already halfway convinced her that taking the role would be the best thing for her to do. As her **trusted sempai**, she really respects your opinion." Kanae turned her head to make eye contact with Ren once more. "Don't make her regret taking this role in any way."

In Ren's mind he could hear Kanae finish that sentence with an _"Or else."_ Ren gave her a reassuring, kind smile and nodded his agreement.

"I'm going to buy some drinks. I'll be gone about ten minutes." Kanae said very pointedly, and walked away.

"I'll come with you!" Yashiro called out as he gave Ren a pointed glance, then turned and ran to catch up with Kanae.

Ren knew even if Yashiro went along to try and slow her down, Kanae would be back to the office in ten minutes. Ren gave a bemused smile when he remembered what had happened at Kyoko's birthday party, when Kanae had refused to be outdone by Ren when it came to whose present Kyoko would appreciate more. Ren certainly had an unexpected and strong rival with Kanae. Shaking his head, Ren walked up to the door and knocked. After all, he had been given only 9 minutes and counting to be alone with Kyoko and every second counted.

When Kyoko heard the knock, she already knew who was on the other side of the door. She had heard the voices outside the door, and knew Kanae had been reluctant to let Tsuruga-san in. Idly, Kyoko wondered what bullying technique Ren had used to get Kanae to leave as Kyoko called out "Come in."

"Good afternoon Mogami-san."

"Good afternoon Tsuruga-san."

"Are you still debating whether to accept the role of Kagami for Director Shingai's movie?" Ren asked as he sat in the seat across from her.

Kyoko was a little surprised at how quickly Ren had gotten down to business, but she nodded in agreement.

"Is it correct to assume that you don't want this role because you'd remember how it was with _that guy_ and that you doubt you'd be able to successfully act out love?" Ren asked.

Kyoko hesitated for a second, and then nodded again. Well, that was mainly true, but Kyoko wasn't going to correct him and explain her fear of falling in love with Tsuruga-san. Ren noticed the hesitation but overlooked it. He didn't have that much time.

"Mogami-san, the entire point of the Love-Me Section is for you and Kotonami-san regain the feeling of love that you lack. Wouldn't accepting this role help you towards that goal?"

When Kyoko nodded, Ren continued. "Even if you don't accept this role, eventually you will have to act out a love story if you want to become a proper actress. These types of romance stories are a popular female genre."

"I know that, Tsuruga-san. Yet I still feel hesistant. I have never known reciprocal love, how am I to act it out when I've never experienced it before?" Kyoko asked.

Ren was unsure how to answer that question. Before he could respond, Kyoko asked a question that made him twenty times more uneasy and rendered him momentarily speechless.

"How were you able to find your Katsuki, Tsuruga-san? Maybe if I knew how you did it, I would be able to find my Kagami." Kyoko told him with a serious look on her face.

_What do I do now? I can't tell her I thought of her while acting out my Katsuki. And I certainly don't have any tips on how to act out reciprocal love when I needed to be told what love felt like from a chicken. _Ren thought in a bit of panic, while keeping his face carefully calm and blank.

With only a few more minutes left, Ren decided to use his trump card. He threw down a challenge he knew Kyoko would find difficult to turn down.

"Mogami-san, what was it that you told Hizuri Kuu when he was about to leave for America? That you weren't going to run away from bully roles? Are you now going to run away from love roles?" Ren knew his remarks had hit their target when Kyoko's head shot up. Ren continued relentlessly. "Love roles are just another trial that should be overcome in order for you to become an actress. Really, what would Hizuri-san say if he heard you talking like this? Wouldn't he be disappointed?"

Kyoko heard the truth to Ren's words and her eyes began to tear up with the thought of disappointing her beloved Otou-san.

"Well, are you going to run away?" Ren asked, jerking Kyoko out of her unhappy thoughts. The challenge in his voice and the harsh look in his eyes were enough to make Kyoko form her resolution. Ren recognized the "bring it on" expression that had formed on her face was the same as when Sho Fuwa had confessed to her, and challenged him, at Karuizawa, and knew his plan had worked even before Kyoko emphatically said "No."

Before anything more could be said, the office door was flung open and Kanae entered the office with a thwarted-looking Yashiro right behind her. Kanae's gaze flew between Ren to Kyoko; Kanae recognized the look on Kyoko's confident and determined face and knew her friend had decided to accept the role. A relieved smile broke over her face for a second before she recovered and said, "Sorry for the wait. I've got the drinks for OUR lunch."

Yashiro said from the doorway "I also bought some bentos and drinks for lunch, Ren."

Kanae shot a dark look in Yashiro direction, but decided to allow the two of them to join them for lunch in deference to the fact Ren had convinced Kyoko to take the role. So she said "Why don't you two join us here for lunch?"

Yashiro's jaw dropped, he hadn't expected an invitation considering how Kanae hadn't waited for him when he was buying the bentos in an attempt to stall their return, but Ren gratefully accepted. Kyoko happily assumed the role of hostess, sharing their Darumaya bento with Ren and Yashiro. When Kanae and Ren's eyes met, they shared a quick smile. The two of them had called a truce for the time being.


	5. Chapter 5

After informing Sawara-san that she will take the role of Kagami, Kyoko was in a cheerful mood the rest of the day. Next week would be the full cast meeting for the movie, _Destined_, and Kyoko was excited about meeting her new costars. She was especially curious to know who would play the character of her childhood sweetheart and fiancé, Asai Hideyoshi. The start of filming for the movie would be a few weeks after the meeting. There would also be a photo shoot for promotional posters of the movie before filming began. Essentially, Kyoko had three weeks in order to prepare her own Kagami. That night Kyoko got down to the business of figuring out her character.

Hirohata Kagami was the only daughter of Hirohata Kaito, head of Hirohata Enterprises. She was raised in the traditional fashion, learning only the basics of business etiquette and how to properly run the household because it was an understanding between her father and Hideyoshi's father that their children would get married, and Hideyoshi was to be the Hirohata Enterprises successor. The death of Hideyoshi shattered Kagami's world, she could only think of doing her duty as the apparent successor of her father's struggling business, leading to the loss of laughter and joy in her life. Kagami clung to her new routine, assuming the roles expected of her and merely going through the gestures of living. Kagami's eyes which had once been full of laughter and joy had lost their sparkle, her politely smiling face a perfect façade.

As her father's company is forced to sell shares of their stock to keep from going under, Kagami meets Narita Katsutoshi, played by Tsuruga-san, at a charity function who unexpectedly sparks something inside of her, making her feel alive again. Katsutoshi is really the head of a rival business and is buying up the stocks of Hirohata Enterprises. Katsutoshi is intrigued by Kagami, and the sparks of life he is sometimes able to draw into her eyes, and sets about to seduce her and gain control of her business. However his seduction is a double edge sword and he falls for Kagami. At the same time, Hideyoshi comes back to Japan, having recovered his memory after surviving the crash overseas. Eventually it is exposed that Katsutoshi's company is the one who has taken the controlling stock of the company and Kagami feels so betrayed she retreats back into her shell. In the end, Katsutoshi negotiates to return control of Hirohata Enterprises to Hideyoshi if Kagami marries him, otherwise the control would go solely to Kagami. This gesture of Katsutoshi's love brings Kagami such a rush of joy that she breaks out of her shell and smiles the most beautific smile yet seen in the movie.

From what Kyoko read, she felt confident she would be able to portray Kagami very well. A lot of the cues in the script were dependent mainly on her facial expressions and gestures, and Kyoko felt confident in her ability to do that much after all her training classes at LME. The only facial expression she wasn't confident in doing was the joyful smile that would be the last image of the movie before the end credits. However, Kyoko grew more and more anxious to find out who played Hideyoshi, because there were many flashback scenes involving a happy couple in love, and she was hoping that her costar would be able to draw out of her a credible performance. Such scenes without much dialogue depended on the actors onscreen chemistry, so she hoped her costar had enough experience to cover for the both of them, if necessary.

Ren was feeling anxious to know who played Hideyoshi as well, but for an entirely different reason. Although Kagami and Katsutoshi end up together, Ren still felt jealous of the unknown actor since he would get to have more playful and affectionate interaction with Kyoko. Katsutoshi and Kagami share only one embrace, and for Ren, he knew that was one too many but yet not enough at the same time. Accepting the role of Katsutoshi was playing with fire, and Ren was certain the President was behind the selection of Kyoko as the heroine of the story. The President was clearly trying to kill two birds with one stone; give Ren an opportunity to win the heart of the girl he loves, and for Kyoko to regain the feelings of love she had lost and properly debut as an actress. Ren wasn't going to complain about the opportunity, yet he wasn't sure if he could control his emotions on set, when he would have to watch Kyoko smile and laugh with another man.

Ren smiled at the irony of the challenges both he and Kyoko would have to face to star in _Destined_. Ren would have to exert self control to keep from making a move on a woman who wasn't ready to be in love again, and Kyoko would have to reenact her past. Ren understood Kyoko's hesitation about accepting the role; the storyline closely resembled her own situation with Sho Fuwa. At the thought of Fuwa, Ren felt a surge of anger and anxiety; their last confrontation had confirmed Ren's worst fears: Fuwa did in fact harbor feelings for Kyoko, and given the number of times the two have already crossed paths despite their different genres, Ren knew Kyoko would see Fuwa again. If Kyoko did get back the feelings of love she had lost, would she return to Fuwa's side? Could it really be their fate to be together? **No**, Ren thought, he had already decided to take Kyoko away from Fuwa. But Ren realized the biggest challenge for Kyoko's heart, was Kyoko herself. Really, Ren thought with a smile, when it came to Kyoko, the challenges never stopped coming.

**A/N: The drama starts next chapter. Look forward to it ;)**


	6. Chapter 6

On the day of the full cast meeting for _Destined_, Kyoko, Ren, and Yashiro all had matching looks of surprise to find that Kijima Hidehito had been cast as Asai Hideyoshi, Kagami's fiancé.

"Hey, no need to look so surprised, I am an actor you know," Kijima said.

"Long time no see, Kijima-san. I look forward to working with you" Kyoko responded after recovering her senses. After getting over her initial surprise, she felt relief that she wouldn't have to do such lovey dovey scenes with a complete stranger. Her interaction with Kijima-san on the _Dark Moon_ set had been limited, but he seemed like a nice guy.

"Looks like we're working together again, eh Kijima?" Ren said feeling relieved as well. Ren knew Kijima was a flirt, but he was a harmless flirt who wouldn't look twice at Kyoko. And given Kijima's nature, undoubtedly the scenes with Hideyoshi and Kagami would seem natural.

"Long time no see Kyoko-chan, Ren. I look forward to working with you both" said Director Shingai as he came forward to greet them.

After a general meeting of all the main actors, Director Shingai announced that the movie would be shot in sequence since the majority of the scenes could be done inside the studio lot. However, there would be a couple days of outdoor shooting for Hideyoshi and Kagami. Director Shingai announced that the photo shoot for the promotional posters had been moved up and would be shot that afternoon at TBM.

At TBM, Sho Fuwa was sitting in his dressing room, calling himself an idiot. In front of him sat a wrapped package, inside of which was a bottle of the swan shaped moisturizer called Royal Snow, or as Kyoko named it, Odette. Sho had bought the bottle for Kyoko's birthday present, but never got around to giving it to her. But he had been unable to just throw it away either. And more often than he would like, Sho would take it out and look at it and think of the girl he wanted to give it to. And as if to torture himself more, he would wonder what it would be like if he hadn't thrown her away; would they still live at that huge apartment she worked who knows how many jobs to pay rent for, would she still buy pudding just for him, wait up late into the night for him, sit and smile with him as he watched his TV shows and laughed so hard he cried. She probably would have, but not anymore. He had thrown her away without considering what it was he would be losing. But now he knew how much she meant to him, and there was no way he was going to let her go. He would continue to climb the charts, continue to have her chase him, and when he reached the peak, he bring her back to his side since being at the top wouldn't have happened without her, and would be meaningless without her next to him. He didn't have to worry about any other guy occupying her mind, if that supposedly great actor couldn't get her to see him as a man; no other man had a chance. Deep inside, Kyoko was still the same, she still loved fairies and princes; so all he needed to do was win her slowly back over by appealing to that side of her, which was why he had bought her the moisturizer. The only trick was to give it to her without her throwing it back at his head, hard.

A knock at the door brought Sho out of his thoughts, and he quickly grabbed the package and stuck it back into his pocket. Shoko popped her head around the door. "They've finished preparing the shoot; it's time to take those pictures for your new album then the music magazine cover and interview."

Meanwhile, on the way to TBM, Ren's mood was getting worse by the minute. He had offered to give Kyoko a ride to TBM; and had had to extend the invitation to Kijima as well, to keep up the professional friendly image he had since Kijima had been standing next to Kyoko at the time. He hadn't expected Kijima to accept, but Kijima had, and now Kijima and Kyoko were sitting in the backseat, happily chatting with each other; sometimes, Ren really hated being a gentleman. Yashiro was in the passenger seat attempting not to smile or laugh at the fact that Ren was practically pouting over Kijima's monopoly of Kyoko's attention.

"Kijima-san, I wanted to get your opinion on Kagami and Hideyoshi's relationship. This is my first time having this type of role and I want to make sure I portray it correctly." Kyoko told her costar with an earnest and serious expression.

Kijima smiled at Kyoko, finding his costar charming in her sincerity. In the driver's seat, Ren's eye twitched at the smile. "Well, I want to hear what **you** think and I'll tell you if I agree or not."

Kyoko nodded, "I think that they have a sweet, pure love. Kagami has grown up in a sheltered upbringing, and Hideyoshi does his best to make sure she maintains her innocent and carefree lifestyle. Hideyoshi's supposed death rattles Kagami since all she had ever thought of was being his wife, so she begins living for others instead of herself. And eventually she abandons any thought of a prince coming to rescue her from her prison of duty..." at this point, Kyoko's eyes had filled with tears.

"I think you already grasp our characters' relationship. Director Shingai couldn't have picked a better actress to play Kagami," Kijima told Kyoko a bit startled and concerned for the tears in her eyes.

Embarrassed at having such a compliment given to her, and by the fact that she had been near tears, Kyoko gave Kijima a very embarrassed and shy smile, and was suddenly pitched forward and sideways as Ren slammed on the brakes. Ren had been listening and keeping an eye on the conversation, but the cutie-honey smile she had just given to Kijima had been the final straw. It was the same smile she had given him in Karuizawa by the waterfall after the stalker misunderstanding, and it seemed it was having the same effect on Kijima as it had on Ren, if the widening of Kijima's eyes were any indication.

"Jeez Tsuruga, are you trying to give us all whiplash?!" Kijima asked as he righted himself in the backseat. He was holding Kyoko's shoulders as Kyoko had thrown out her hands when the car had stopped so abruptly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to chance running a red light." Ren said calmly, pointing at the signal light they were currently stopped at.

"Are you alright, Kyoko-chan?" Kijima asked, sliding his hands down Kyoko's arms as she began to right herself. Ren's eyes narrowed at the familiar way Kijima had called Kyoko by name, and the caress he had given her.

"Er, yes" Kyoko replied, looking uneasily at Ren as her antennae came out in response to the anger waves Ren was emitting.

_This is bad. Better do some damage control before the Demon Lord comes out,_ thought Yashiro. "So, Kyoko-chan, are you excited about the photo shoot? You haven't had one since the last time you worked with Director Shingai" Yashiro quickly said to change the subject.

Immediately Kyoko gave the reaction that Yashiro thought she would, her eyes grew wide and sparkly and she leaned forward in her excitement. "Yes! I can't wait! It's been so long since I had my makeup done professionally. I'm looking forward to it!"

In the face of such excitement, Ren's anger subsided. Kyoko noticed the change in Ren, and decided to try and continue the conversation. She wasn't sure why Tsuruga-san had gotten so angry, but he seemed to have calmed down at the mention of the photo shoot. "Tsuruga-san, you have experience as a model, do you have any advice for the photo shoot?" Kyoko asked eagerly. Yashiro smiled inwardly at the obvious attempt at placating Ren's anger Kyoko was doing, but Ren was happy her attention was finally on him.

"It's different to the modeling I've done, but since I've had to do TV and movie photo shoots before, I suppose I can give you advice." Ren glanced at Kyoko and saw that she was riveted. Smothering a satisfied smirk, Ren continued. "I advise that you get into character a bit for the photo shoot. Think of Kagami's posture and presence when you're in front of the camera and just follow the photographer's directions as best you can."

Kyoko sat back in her seat to ponder what Kagami's presence and posture should be like. She wasn't certain whether Kagami had the noble presence of Mio or the confident presence of Natsu. She didn't want to keep relying on Tsuruga-san's advice, but she couldn't help but glance hopefully at Ren. To her surprise Ren was looking at her in the rearview mirror and he smiled as he said "I think somewhere between Natsu and Mio; not quite as noble as Mio but not as confident as Natsu. Kagami had a priviledged upbringing but not like Mio had, and Kagami is more timid and gentle than Natsu is." Kyoko nodded and sat quietly inputting what Tsuruga-san said into the image of Kagami in her mind.

"Don't think it over too much, Kyoko-chan. You already have the natural posture and grace of a rich young lady. Just add on to that." Kijima suggested.

Ren was slightly annoyed that Kijima had butt-in to the conversation, but as Kyoko merely nodded her understanding but didn't comment and continued to sit in silence, Ren let it go and the rest of the car ride was spent in silence. When they arrived at TBM, Kyoko could barely conceal her excitement about the photo shoot and practically ran to her dressing room to get changed, but not before she bowed goodbye to her two senpais.

Kyoko couldn't believe the change she saw in herself. She had on an elbow length black wig with soft wavy hair pulled halfway off her face with a red ribbon woven into the strands, and a gorgeous short sleeved red dress that fell just past her knees. The cut and style of the dress reminded her of the dress she wore as an angel for Sho's PV, but it was soft and feminine and Kyoko felt like a princess. Kyoko was glad she had experience wearing heels for Natsu otherwise she would have been in trouble because she was perched precariously high on a pair of strappy red heels. Kyoko realized the significance of the red of her costume, as the movie was called _Destined_, and undoubtedly the red referred to the red string of destiny. Taking a deep breath, Kyoko closed her eyes, and as she exhaled, she let Kagami take her over. When she opened her eyes, Kagami was reflected in the mirror, smiling sweetly and serenely. As she opened the door to make her way to the photo shoot, she was surprised to see Tsuruga-san, Yashiro-san and Kijima-san waiting on the other side of the doorway.

Both men looked over when they heard the door open, and their eyes widened at the sight greeting them. Kyoko no longer looked like a somewhat plain seventeen year old girl; she looked like an attractive mature young woman. Her slender willowy figure was played up to its advantage by the cut and fit of the red dress. Ren was struck by the thought that this is what Kyoko would have looked like if she hadn't cut and dyed her hair, as Kyoko's natural amber-brown eyes were without contacts. _This role just got a bit better and a whole lot harder _Ren thought. As both men continued just staring at Kyoko, Kyoko gave a polite smile and said "Shall we make our way to the shoot, gentlemen?" Jolted out of their stupor, but still utterly speechless both men could only nod and follow her in stunned silence. Yashiro was stunned at the change in Kyoko, but smirked at the look on Ren's face. He certainly couldn't fall back on the age difference excuse now.

As the three of them walked down the hallway to the shoot, Sho was coming out of his magazine shoot, across the hall and a few doors down from where Kyoko and company were heading. He had some time before his interview and was thinking of going to his dressing room, when the sound of murmuring voices caught his attention. As he turned to look at the commotion, what he saw stopped him dead in his tracks. It was the old Kyoko, with black hair and soft amber-brown eyes; only she was dressed up and had on natural looking makeup. _Is this what she would have looked like if I hadn't thrown her away? _But before he could get lost in such thoughts, Sho looked at the two men flanking her. It was Ren Tsuruga and some other man Sho didn't recognize, but they both couldn't seem to stop stealing glances at **his **Kyoko. Gritting his teeth, Sho put on a hat and slipped into the room Kyoko and the others had just walked into; Sho wasn't sure what was going on, but those looks were bad news.

**A/N: I know some people thought it was Sho who would play Hideyoshi, but as you can see it's not. Hope nobody is too disappointed.**


	7. Chapter 7

Inside the studio, Director Shingai looked over to see his three main actors walk in. His eyes were immediately drawn to Kyoko and he was pleased with what he saw. He thought it would be somewhat difficult to make such a cute young girl look mature and old enough to fit Kagami's image, but he was glad his faith in Kyoko was justified. Kyoko was a very eye-catching lady in red and he had been right in his first assessment of her; that Kyoko, as an actress, had a powerful presence. If he went by the looks on all the male faces within the room, he wasn't the only one who felt that way. Perhaps the red dress was a poor choice; Kagami was supposed to be a sweet innocent, not a seductress. But nothing in Kyoko's face or walk was deliberately suggestive, so Shingai concluded that a dressed up Kyoko was a natural head turner.

Shingai glanced at Ren and Hidehito noticing that both had unhappy looks on their faces. He wondered why Hidehito was unhappy, but there was no doubt in Shingai's mind as to why Ren looked unhappy. Ren was glaring at all the men who were still openly ogling Kyoko. _So the President hadn't been lying, Ren does have a soft spot for his young oblivious kohai._

As Hidehito came closer he called out to Shingai "Director, don't you think there are too many people in the studio?" _Ah, so that's why Hidehito is unhappy, there are too many males watching the proceedings._ The Director looked over at the crowded doorway where many curious onlookers were looking in. He called out to clear the doorway and close the door. Almost immediately a tall young man with a hat shoved everyone out, slammed the door shut and propped himself up against the wall next to it. That handled, Director Shingai was ready to get to business.

"Alright, we're going to take a series of individual pictures, couple pictures, then pictures with all three of you together" called out the photographer.

"Do you want to go first Kyoko-chan?" Director Shingai asked Kyoko.

When she looked uncertain, Ren spoke up. "Would you like me to go first, so you have an idea of what to expect Mogami-san?" Kyoko looked up and gave Ren a soft relieved smile and nodded.

Kyoko was a bit dazzled by Tsuruga-san when he was modeling in front of the camera. He looked so natural and comfortable and emitted the calm, cool, and ruthless attitude of Katsutoshi. In what seemed like only a few seconds, Tsuruga-san's turn was over. Quelling the wave of nerves Kyoko felt, she made her way over to the set. When she passed Ren, he gave her a smile and told her to relax and enjoy the experience.

After she gave her greetings to the photographer, he said he knew that this was her first photo shoot and that she just needed to relax, pretend there weren't any onlookers, just the two of them. When they started, Kyoko immediately understood what he wanted from her, and did her best to follow his instructions to the letter, and when he told her to improvise she just did what felt natural. The majority of the shots were done sitting, as they were just for the head and torso, but Kyoko stood for different shots as directed. When it came for the somber shots, the entire mood of the set changed, everyone was so taken in by the realistic emotions Kyoko conveyed; her melancholy and then her empty look of a mannequin. When the photographer yelled cut, Kyoko snapped back into her body and looked around in surprise. The photographer smiled at her and told her she was a natural, and a slightly flustered Kyoko walked off the set, to the sound of impressed and excited murmurs. As she passed Kijima, he gave her a broad smile and a wink making Kyoko flush with embarrassment and pleasure. When Kyoko sat down in her chair, she couldn't stop smiling about the photo shoot and watched Kijima's photo shoot avidly.

Ren glanced at Kyoko and still couldn't believe what he had just seen. He felt he knew her so well, yet she never ceased to surprise and amaze him. It grated on his nerves that although Kyoko would never be taken in or swayed by Kijima, she clearly felt at ease with him and his flirtation, not to mention the fact Kijima had barely been able to take his eyes off of her since she emerged from her dressing room. Even now, although he knew Kyoko was admiring the shoot and not Kijima, he didn't like how she was staring transfixed. Kijima wasn't even a threat compared to Fuwa, but Ren was amazed at how strongly jealous and possessive his feelings were. Mentally shaking himself, Ren knew he had to focus on the couple shoot he would have with Kyoko. Ren wondered if he'd forget himself during the shoot just as he had the time he and Kyoko were acting out Katsuki in his kitchen. Stealing another glance at his costar, he thought it was a very strong possibly he might end up embarrassing them both if his true self came out. He could imagine it now; he leans in to kiss her, she freezes up and then avoids being within 20 feet of him offset. All Ren had to do was remember her frozen face that time from his trailer, and the fact that she would surely shut him out of her life and despise him; it was a painful enough thought that it served as motivation to stop his true self.

Before Ren realized it, it was his and Kyoko's turn to do a photo shoot together. Ren was thankful they were going first, because he knew that if he had to see Kyoko and Kijima flirting and being a happy couple for their photo shoot, Ren had no doubt he'd kiss Kyoko for real in an outward show of possession. As they stood up Kyoko turned and smiled excitedly up at Ren, and Ren had to get a stronger grip on his feelings; _she'll despise me_ he mentally chanted in his head like a mantra. After taking a deep breath, he calmed himself and felt prepared for the shoot.

Kyoko on the other hand was still euphoric over the feelings from her individual shoot, she didn't give too much thought about the couples one until she and Tsuruga-san were standing in front of the photographer and receiving instructions as to the types of poses he wanted. Kyoko began to get nervous again, but after glancing at Tsuruga-san sideways she noticed his air of calm and confidence and began to relax. She was to have on her mannequin look again while Tsuruga-san held the end of her red ribbon in his hand as he turned her face towards him, and then to look surprised and a little more alive as she meets Ren's gaze.

As the two of them took their places, Kyoko took a steadying breath and wiped all expression off her face and eyes. She felt Tsuruga-san get close to her side and pick up the end of her ribbon and bring it forward so the camera could see it; she couldn't see Tsuruga-san's expression because she was looking directly at the camera but she could feel the intensity of his gaze. When the photographer Okayed the pose and called for the next one, she felt Tsuruga-san's fingers under her chin gently turning her face around to look at him. When she finally turned her head, she was surprised at how close their faces were, and the fact that he had brought the end of the ribbon to his lips and was kissing it while gazing deep into her eyes. She felt the emotion in his eyes so strongly her heart started racing and her eyes widened in surprise.

When the flash of the light bulb went off and the photographer yelled 'Perfect,' Kyoko realized where she was, and saw that Tsuruga-san was still looking at her with the Emperor of Night gaze, she panicked and stiffened. Ren felt the tension in Kyoko's body and the look of terror in her eyes and immediately brought himself back under control. He backed up a step and smiled his gentleman smile and said "Good work, we manage to do it right in two shots." Kyoko managed to shakily nod her agreement and relaxed a little. Ren turned on his heel to give them both time and space to get back under control. _That was close, _Ren thought as he walked to his seat; as soon as he had smelled Kyoko's soft scent, touched her soft skin, looked into those shocked amber-brown eyes, and his true self came out; good thing the picture was taken before Ren could cause irrevocable damage.

Kyoko was trying to get her heart at a more manageable rate and compose herself before the next shoot, she felt that her cheeks were flushed and wondered if it was due to the hot lights; must be right? Kijima came up beside her and said "Wow, that Ren really can get the right reaction out of his partner every time. Let's see if we can manage to do it between ourselves." With those words Kyoko finally calmed down; Kijima-san was right, she had already seen that Ren could make an actress act the way he wanted them too, she had just been at Tsuruga-san's mercy again, there was no special reason to her racing pulse, Momose-san had probably felt the same way during the _Dark Moon_ acting test. Having reassured herself this way, she smiled brightly at Kijima and said she'd do her best.

The photographer called them over, and gave instructions for their poses. Kyoko and Kijima's poses would be more playful in nature and suggested that the two of them simply improvise, so long as there would be one of Kijima holding the end of Kyoko's ribbon on the opposite side Ren had held it. At the word 'Start,' Kijima grabbed Kyoko by the waist, lifted her up and spun her around quickly. Kyoko had not been expecting that, and clutched Kijima's shoulders for support, staring down at his laughing childlike face and laughed in delighted surprise. That action had brought the flush of laughter to her face and childlike joy to her eyes. When Kyoko was put down, she wasn't sure what to do, but Kijima turned her to face the camera, grabbed the end of the ribbon and gave it a little tug. Kyoko grabbed the ribbon at the back of her head and looked over at Kijima, laughing as he stuck his tongue out at her. The photographer called for Kyoko to fully face the camera, while keeping the same pose and smile. There were a couple more shots where Kijima tickled under Kyoko's chin with the ribbons end, but after that the photographer said he had all the shots, and to clear the set to prepare for the group pictures.

As Kyoko and Kijima went to sit down in their chairs for the short break, Ren was getting his jealousy under control. When Kijima had lifted and spun her, and the bright smile had spread across Kyoko's face, Ren had felt a need to tear her out of Kijima's hands. No, even before that, when Kyoko had been standing in a daze, Kijima had said something to snap her out of it; she could have become aware of him and whatever Kijima said could have wiped that out. But truthfully, Ren just wished he had been able to do such fun poses with her, get such a delighted smile out of her instead of causing her to freeze up. By the time Kyoko sat down next to him, Ren had his feelings under control and managed to smile and make small talk until it was time for the last shoot.

The final shoot went smoothly without any problems; the three of them worked well together. The poses were mainly done with the aid of an extra long red ribbon prop as opposed to her hair ribbon. A few of the poses required Kyoko to be in the middle of Kijima and Ren; one where Kyoko was in Kijima's embrace but Ren was holding onto one of her arms as though to pull her away from Kijima, another where she had to lean back into Ren's chest while he had his arms around her, as Kijima held onto one of her hands as though to tug her out of the embrace. Kyoko had stiffened being in both Kijima and Ren's arms, but forced herself to relax. At one point Kijima had pulled out Kyoko's hair ribbon, and then both Kijima and Ren had tied the ribbon back into her hair, which lead to series of casual relaxed shots. Before Kyoko knew it, the shoot was over. When Director Shingai offered to let Kyoko see all the shots taken, she was amazed at what she saw. While looking at the pictures Kyoko felt someone staring at her, when she looked to see who it was she saw a tall outline of a guy standing in the doorway, but then he left. Distracted, Kyoko forgot about the pictures until Director Shingai and Ren called back her attention, but Kyoko still felt a little unsettled, the silhouette had looked so familiar.

As Sho was stalking back to his dressing room, his mind kept going over the photo shoot. Taking off his hat and running his hand through his hair in a frustrated way, Sho thought about how he hadn't been able to take his eyes off of Kyoko for a second. _That was how she looked with makeup on? _Sho was thankful she hadn't worn makeup before, in fact, maybe he would forbid her from it when they were back together. And Kyoko definitely had some sex appeal, even if she didn't realize it. All the guys crowding the doorway trying to get a better look at HIS Kyoko had been pissing him off, so he was glad the Director had called to close the door, giving him a reason to push the bastards out.

But that wasn't the only reason why Sho couldn't take his eyes off her. It was because that was the most alive he had ever seen her, she was giving it her usual 100% but she was clearly enjoying every second of it. He felt his irritation growing even more, Kyoko was not thinking about him, while he had been thinking about practically nothing but her. Especially now, her face kept flashing in front of him; the way she had smiled just like she had when he had asked her to go to Tokyo, the way her face had become completely blank and emotionless… had he ever made her look like that? But one thing was for sure, he had never made her laugh the way that other actor guy had. His fists had clenched when he watched that Kijima guy lift and spin her, heard Kyoko's melodic laugh. He saw that Tsuruga had halfway gotten out of his seat, as though to pull Kyoko away from Kijima; Sho had wished that Ren would, Sho couldn't without being thrown out and exposing himself. Sho knew that the way Tsuruga had looked at Kyoko during their shoot was Tsuruga showing his real feelings, and Sho also knew Kyoko had gotten truly flustered from that look. Sho recalled how Kyoko had gotten flustered when he was trying to determine if she was really Kyoko when she had been hired for his PV, but the look Tsuruga had given Kyoko was way more intense. That bastard was trying to take over Sho's place in her heart and get Kyoko to think of him!

Slamming the door to his dressing room, Sho paced around the room thinking. He knew he had to give Kyoko Odette while he had this opportunity, to get Kyoko to think only of him again. If he tried to give it to her in person, Tsuruga would definitely interfere. Suddenly Sho had a brilliant idea; getting one of the staff at TBM to get him a black feather, a white feather and a piece of paper, Sho opened the box and pulled out Odette. He tied the red ribbon in a bow around Odette's neck and walked down to Kyoko's dressing room. Going in, he placed Odette on a side table on top of the two feathers, hastily wrote a note on the piece of paper and taped it to the door. Smiling at his handiwork, Sho then casually slipped out of the room. When Kyoko saw the two feathers he was sure she would know who it was, after all, he had made sure she had seen him before he had left the studio. Just in case she didn't figure it out, he had left that note for her to find on the way out. When Sho got back to his dressing room, he didn't even care when Shoko yelled at him for disappearing. Sho left to go do the interview in a better mood than he had been for a long time


	8. Chapter 8

On the way to the dressing rooms, Kyoko was talking happily about how nice the photographer had been and how he had let her pick her favorite picture to go into the movie programs that were given out in theaters, when she saw Bridge Rock coming down the hallway towards her.

"There you are! We were looking for the studio you were having the photo shoot in Kyoko-chan!" said Shinichi Ishibashi.

"O-tskare Kyoko-chan" said Yusei Ishibashi as Kyoko came up to them. "We heard from Sawara-san about your photo shoot and came to see you" Yusei said while Hikaru Ishibashi continued to stare at Kyoko.

"Thank you Ishibashi onii-sans" Kyoko replied feeling touched that they had come out of their way to see her. "Hikaru-san, are you okay?"

Hikaru blushed at having been caught staring. "Yes, I'm fine Kyoko-chan. I was just thinking you look really nice."

"Thank you Hikaru-san." Kyoko said, blushing. "I was just about to change and go back to the LME offices."

"Ah, well don't let us keep you. See you later Kyoko-chan." Hikaru said as the group waved goodbye.

"I'll be out soon, Tsuruga-san" she told Ren as she went into her dressing room, but he was looking at the retreating backs of the Bridge Rock group.

After having had her makeup removed, Kyoko hung up her red dress and changed clothes. She was glancing around the room to make sure she had everything when she noticed the moisturizer on the table. Thinking the women who had done her makeup might have forgotten it, Kyoko went to pick it up, until she saw the black and white feathers. _Shotaro! I knew I recognized that silhouette at the end of the photo shoot. _Intending to storm out and confront him, Kyoko noticed the folded note taped on the door.

**Congrats on making a bigger name of yourself, but I'm still waiting- SF**

_That BASTARD! I'll KILL HIM!!_ The grudge Kyoko's swarmed out after reading the note. Kyoko stormed over to the table but stopped when she grabbed the bottle. _Odette was a poor victim in all this… No, she couldn't keep her, that bastard was obviously taunting her… _After a pathetically short internal battle, Kyoko carefully put Odette into the box left on the table and put her safely into her handbag. _Dammit, he knows I can't just throw away tragic Princess Odette! I'll make you pay for having brought an innocent bystander into this Shotaro!_ Tearing off the note, shoving it into her bag and flinging open the door Kyoko nearly walked right into Ren.

"Anything wrong Mogami-san?" Ren asked

"Er, no. I was just worried that I might make you late" Kyoko replied. As angry as Shotaro's antics had made her, she couldn't bring herself to tell Tsuruga-san about it; Kyoko was unsure how he'd react. She hadn't dared to mention Shotaro to Tsuruga-san since Karuizawa. "Where's Kijima-san?"

"He had somewhere else to be. Why? Are you disappointed?" Ren answered, smiling brightly.

"No, not really" Kyoko answered, wondering why she felt like the sparkles from his smile were putting pressure on her. "If you don't mind waiting, I'd like to talk to Director Shingai about something."

"No, go right ahead, we'll be waiting here."

As Kyoko headed back towards the studio, Yashiro stared hard at Ren. "If it bothers you so much that other men call Kyoko-chan by name then call her 'Kyoko' too. It is her stage name. Plus I would say you're entitled to at this point in your relationship."

Ren sighed; really, he should have known Yashiro had seen through him. Ren knew he shouldn't be so annoyed by the fact Kijima called her Kyoko-chan, because as Yashiro said, it was her stage name; plus it was better than Kijima just calling her Kyoko. But it was the fact those three talentos had called Kyoko by name, and that she had called one of the three by his name as well; not once but twice. And what had been that embarrassed happy atmosphere between the two? While he had been pondering on how to ask Kyoko who they were and why they had such a familiar relationship, Kyoko had asked about Kijima and his temper had frayed a bit. He had seen the wary look she had given him; really, what was wrong with him today? He usually had a better grasp on his emotions than this. If he wasn't careful he might snap and scare Kyoko away.

"Those guys from earlier were Bridge Rock if I remember correctly." Yashiro commented as though reading Ren's mind again. "But I wonder why they know Kyoko well enough to be on a first name basis."

Ren didn't comment; if he knew Yashiro, Yashiro would ask Kyoko about her relationship with Bridge Rock as much for Ren's sake as his own. Ren decided to let his manager handle that particular line of questioning.

When Kyoko returned, the three of them made their way to Ren's car, Kyoko happily recalling every minute of her photo shoot to Yashiro. Ren couldn't help but smile, Kyoko had really enjoyed herself today. Knowing it wouldn't be long before Yashiro got to his line of questioning, Ren just concentrated on driving.

"Say Kyoko-chan, how do you know Bridge Rock so well? You even called them Ishibashi onii-sans." Yashiro asked Kyoko while they were stopped at a signal light.

Kyoko was prepared for the question, had actually been waiting for it since she had stepped out of her dressing room. "I often have to do Love-Me work for them and have gotten to know them well. Since they all have the last name of Ishibashi, they suggested I use their first names to clarify which one I'm speaking to." It was always safer to tell half truths than to outright lie to Tsuruga-san; he always seemed to know when she was lying.

"So they came to see your photo shoot today?"

"Yes. It's a shame they missed it, but at least they got to see me with my makeup professionally done." Kyoko sighed blissfully at the memory of her makeup.

"Did they say anything about how you looked in your outfit?"

"Um, yes…Hikaru-san said that I looked really nice." Kyoko blushed recalling the compliment.

Yashiro felt as much as saw Ren's twitch of anger. "Well you did look very nice today Kyoko-chan. I hardly recognized you, you looked so amazing!"

When Kyoko blushed at Yashiro's compliment, Ren realized that Kyoko was unused to people praising her looks; it had nothing to do with the person giving them. Not only that, Kyoko wasn't aware of any guy as a man, or recognize their awareness of her as a woman, otherwise she would have realized that Ishibashi Hikaru was interested in her. Ren felt rather relieved; so it wasn't just him that she recognized as a male (gender), but not a man. Ren recalled when Kyoko had come over to his place for help with how to walk like a female model for her Natsu role, and he had reminded her he was a man. She had responded with an innocent, wide eyed "what about it?" She had said she was aware of that fact without needing a reminder, but he doubted that. Her naiveté both amused and frustrated him. But then again, if she became aware of his interest in her, she would stop visiting him at his apartment and altogether avoid being alone with him. Ren guessed he should be thankful.

As they pulled into the LME office buildings parking garage, Ren remembered Kyoko's need to talk to the director. "Mogami-san, what was it that you needed to talk to the director about?"

"Director Shingai had told Kijima-san and I that we do the filming of the outdoor scenes next week as opposed to in two weeks due to the weather. He said it would probably take all day. Since there was a picnic scene, I asked Director Shingai if I can make a bento. I know that the studio could probably arrange for the bento, but I think that Kagami would probably cook it herself, so I asked if would be okay and the director said yes."

As Kyoko was explaining all this, she had gotten out of the car and was stooping so she could continue speaking to Ren and Yashiro. She was surprised to see that Ren had a death grip on the steering wheel and Yashiro had taken out his appointment book. "Well then, good night Tsuruga-san, Yashiro-san; thank you for giving me a ride. I'm sorry for any inconvenience. See you in a couple weeks" Kyoko quickly said, thinking that she had caused the two to be late for their next appointment.

"It was no trouble at all Mogami-san; good night," Ren said before driving away. Glancing into his rearview mirror he saw Kyoko bow; "Yashiro."

"I think we can manage to be on location with some rearrangements," Yashiro said, already knowing what his charge was asking for.

Kanae was waiting for Kyoko in the Love-Me office. Kyoko had asked Kanae to visit the actual shoot but she had been unable to because she had work for a drama. To make up for not visiting, Kanae had decided to wait for Kyoko. When the door opened and Kyoko walked in, Kanae remained in her seat and said "O-tskare."

"Oh! Moko-san, o-tskare! Did you wait for me?" Kyoko asked, happy to see her friend.

"Yeah, I wanted to hear all about the photo shoot. I'm sorry I couldn't make it."

Kyoko was so touched that her eyes immediately flooded with tears, she had such a good best friend. In order to nip the messy emotional waterworks that was about to come, Kanae quickly asked, "Well, how did it go?"

As Kyoko was giving a detailed review, complete with recreated poses, Kanae was waiting to hear if anything happened with Tsuruga. When Kyoko reached the part where she and Tsuruga posed together, and how Kyoko's heart had started racing Kanae was stunned. Maybe Tsuruga might pull it off; maybe he would make her friend find her feelings of love again. If nothing else, Tsuruga might make her aware of him as a man, which was a step in the right direction. When Kyoko got to the part about Bridge Rock and Tsuruga's question if Kyoko was disappointed Kijima wouldn't be joining them, Kanae couldn't help but inwardly grin. _Jealous was he?_ When she found out about the bento, along with Yashiro and Tsuruga's strange behavior, Kanae knew why they had reacted that way. No doubt Tsuruga was going to move his schedule around to keep a close eye on Kyoko and Kijima, and Kanae wanted to be there as well.

"Where did you say the outdoor filming will be? I think I'm free that day, and if you don't mind, I want to watch" Kanae said nonchalantly, knowing Kyoko would do pretty much anything possible to allow Kanae to be there. As expected Kyoko jumped at the opportunity to have Kanae there on set with her, and as Kyoko was searching for the filming itinerary in her bag, Kyoko's fingers found Odette. She instantly stilled. Sensing something wrong, Kanae asked what happened. Kyoko showed her the note, the feathers and Odette, and told her how she had seen Fuwa at the end of the photo shoot. Although angry that Fuwa had pulled such a stupid stunt, and especially with what he wrote on the note, Kanae knew the reasons behind it. The bastard was regretting tossing Kyoko aside; Kyoko was getting closer to her goal of revenge, and if Kyoko's racing heartbeat was any indication, closer than Kyoko herself even knew.

**A/N: As always, thanks for all the reviews, they really cheer me up and cheer me on. Happy Holidays everyone!**


	9. Chapter 9

It was a warm beautiful day, perfect for the picnic scene they were filming that day. Kanae was sitting next to Kyoko and Kijima who were on standby, all three of them watching the younger versions of Kagami and Hideyoshi playing in the field. Kanae glanced over at Kyoko, she looked so different; elbow length wavy black hair, a mid-calf length khaki linen skirt and a dusky rose colored sleeveless blouse. _No wonder Tsuruga had been shocked out of his mind and completely jealous, Kyoko is a beauty._

The director called to Kyoko and Kijima that shooting will be starting soon, so Kyoko and Kijima stood and left to take their marks. The easy companionable atmosphere between the two was very apparent; Kanae could understand why Tsuruga felt threatened. As she watched Kyoko and Kijima prepare for their scene, Kanae wondered when Tsuruga and his manager were going to arrive; if they arrive late Tsuruga would miss all the good stuff. No sooner had she thought this when she heard the sound of a car pulling up. Shortly afterwards she heard footsteps heading her way. _Showtime, _Kanae thought with a grin.

Since it was quiet on the set, no one called out greetings to the main actor as he made his way over towards the two empty chairs on by Kotonami-san. Ren was a little surprised to see her there, but assumed Kyoko had invited her along. "Good afternoon Kotonami-san," he greeted in a whisper as he sat down in the chair next to her. She inclined her head in acknowledgment without taking her eyes off her best friend. Thankful that she wasn't going to drag him into small talk while he wanted to watch the scene, Ren turned his attention to Kyoko and Kijima.

Kyoko and Kijima are sitting side by side on top of the hill overlooking a field with a stream, as Kyoko makes daisy chains and teaches Kijima how to do so as well. Kyoko makes a daisy chain crown and puts it on Kijima's head, laughing at the result of her handiwork and the faces he makes. Kijima then makes a series of daisy chains and puts them on Kyoko in return; first a necklace, then a crown, then a bracelet, then finally slides a daisy ring onto her left ring finger. Kyoko smiles down at the makeshift engagement ring given to her as if it was the biggest diamond in the world then turns loving eyes at Kijima. The sight of Kyoko getting engaged to another man sends a sudden sharp stab of pain into Ren's heart but he continues watching the scene with an emotionless face.

Kijima has walked down the hill with the picnic equipment, and is standing at the bottom waiting for Kyoko to join him. At first Kyoko stands up and walks to the edge of the hill, but then she looks around the hillside as if to see if anyone is watching, lies down and rolls down the hill, a blur of khaki skirt, bare arms, trim legs, soft wavy hair and joyful laughter. She stops rolling a few feet in front of Kijima who pulls her to feet, then grabs her hand as they run back up the hill in order to race back down the hill rolling. At the bottom, Kijima pulls Kyoko up to her feet again, hands her the bento, picks up the blanket, and then drapes his arm around her shoulders as she puts her arm around his waist and they walk towards the stream leaning into each other. Ren fingers had twitched briefly at the two of them holding hands, but the sight of them with their arms around each other caused him to ball his hands into fists; Kyoko had stiffened up in Kijima's arms a few times at the photo shoot, but now it appeared she was used to close physical contact with the actor.

"Hmmm, those two have great on screen chemistry," Kanae observed out loud. "You almost forget that you're watching Kagami and Hideyoshi, not Kyoko and Kijima-san."

Ren had forgotten about Yashiro and Kotonami-san, but now he was aware of their intense scrutiny and he forced himself to relax. She was right, they were just acting, nothing more. But then he watched Kyoko unpack the bento that she made **herself** and felt his jealousy return full force. To add insult to injury, they were feeding each other; Ren pretended not to see the smirk Kanae had on her face.

"Cut! Let's break for lunch. Why should Kijima be the only one trying Kyoko-chan's cooking," Director Shingai called out through a megaphone.

Confused Ren looked over at Kanae. She shrugged and said "Kyoko made enough for the crew since there would only be a handful of people on set."

"Moko-san, come and join us! Oh, hello Tsuruga-san, Yashiro-san, what are you two doing here?" Kyoko asked as she had come running up to the three of them after the director had called for the break.

"We finished a job early and the location was on the way so we came to watch" Ren replied.

"I'm not sure there's enough for five in the bento that's with Kijima-san, so I'll go get some more. Tsuruga-san and Yashiro-san please join us by the stream."

"I'll help you" Ren replied as Kanae and Yashiro headed down towards the stream. As Ren and Kyoko neared the crafts tent where the food was laid out, Ren was surprised at the amount of food Kyoko had prepared. "Is this for the people on the crew? This is more than enough for the handful of people here" Ren said in some surprise.

"Ah, well, I got used to cooking in large quantities like this from when I cooked for Otou-sama" Kyoko replied. "Actually I had to scale it down by more than half."

Ren sweat dropped at the truth in that statement, his dad's gluttony was legendary.

As they headed towards Yashiro and the others amid calls of "itadakimasu" Ren asked how the filming was going.

"It's going well. I'm having a lot of fun. But Kagami's feelings at this point are very simple and easy to understand. It gets more difficult later on in the movie." Kyoko's face darkened as she pondered the inconsistencies in Kagami's feelings and her actions later on in the movie; _why would Kagami choose Katsutoshi over Hideyoshi?Katsutoshi had deceived and used her, why would she pick him?_

Before Ren could ask what she was having difficulty with, they came within ear shot of the group.

"…No, I have work this afternoon, we both do; that's why I was able to come with her" Kanae was explaining to Yashiro.

"Kyoko-chan has more work this afternoon?" asked Yashiro

"Yes, she's a regular on..aaahhhhhh! Not again! Why!?" Kanae screamed in horror as the grudge Kyokos came out and wrapped around her, whispering "Sshhh! Don't tell him. We won't let you tell him."

"Sorry for making you wait!" Kyoko said extra cheerfully to cover up Kanae's behavior as her grudges retreated, leaving a glaring Kanae. Kyoko gave her an 'I'll explain later' look.

"Everything looks delicious; itadakimasu!" Kijima said into the awkward silence.

"Yes, everyone please eat up!" Kyoko said.

Lunch was passed in an easy relaxed environment, everyone enjoying the sun, company and food. Ren began to relax as Kijima paid equal amounts of attention to Kyoko and Kotonami-san. Had Kijima paid attention only to Kyoko, Ren would still feel uneasy especially after seeing what he had that morning. Currently a starry eyed Kyoko was making daisy chains and putting them on Kotonami-san saying she looked like a woodland nymph. Kotonami-san didn't look very happy, and initially had struggled and tried to run away, but for whatever reason was now sitting still and allowing Kyoko have her fun (the reason actually being that the grudge Kyoko's were assisting with decorating Kanae and holding her down.) Kijima was lying on his back with a blade of grass in his mouth, idly watching Kyoko and Kotonami-san with an amused expression. Even Yashiro seemed to be relaxed and in a mellow mood, smiling a little at the annoyed expression Kotonami-san had on her face.

"Kyoko-chan, Kijima, are you two ready to resume filming? We only have a couple shots left and the light is just right. The food was delicious Kyoko-chan. Gochisousamadeshita." Director Shingai said as he approached the group on the picnic blanket.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it Director. I'm ready to start filming again." Kyoko said as she stopped trying to braid daisies into a very annoyed Kanae's hair. Seizing her opportunity, Kanae started taking out the daisies in her hair. As she was about to pull off her daisy chains, she realized Kyoko was looking at her with a hurt puppy dog face and everyone else was giving her a curious look. "Mo! I'll wear it until the end of filming, but it comes off when we leave for the offices."

When Kanae, Ren and Yashiro sat back down in their chairs, Director Shingai was still giving instructions to Kyoko and Kijima about the rest of their scenes. Unsure of when filming would resume, Ren turned to make conversation with Kanae.

"The weather sure is nice today, isn't it Kotonami-san?"

"Yes, it's perfect weather for filming. The light is just right and the temperature is just warm enough that they won't get too sweaty romping around."

Amused at such a professional answer, Ren continued. "What do you think of Kijima-san?"

"He's an accomplished flirt. But I suppose that's what makes him perfect for this role. And he's a good actor, to be able to get her to act out her innocent side without reminding her of what **that guy** put her through."

"Yeah, that's true." Ren said with a small smile.

Kyoko hadn't sunk into gloom nor did she have her Mio-like aura of anger about her. Ren felt a bit silly, he had been so consumed with feelings of jealousy, he hadn't considered whether Kyoko was doing okay with her role. But she looked just fine…with Kijima's head in her lap. The smile on his face stopped, faltered, and then went away altogether. To make matters worse, on either side of him, Kanae and Yashiro had matching evil smirks on their faces having seen Ren's reaction.

However, Ren soon felt a little appeased as Director Shingai was heard telling Kyoko she was too stiff and to relax, as she had practically turned to stone when Kijima had put his head in her lap. It took a few minutes but eventually she did relax and filming resumed. The rest of the scenes passed by smoothly; a few scenes of the two relaxing on the picnic blanket, Kijima teaching Kyoko how to make a whistle out of a blade of grass between the thumbs, then finally Kyoko and Kijima acting out when Hideyoshi tells Kagami he's going overseas, her shock and unease and his reassuring embrace. After talking briefly with the director, both Kijima and Kyoko make their way over to Ren.

"Today was really fun Kijima-san. Thank you." Kyoko said as she bowed to Kijima.

"Not at all, I had fun today as well Kyoko-chan. I think the filming went so well because I was working with you."

Kanae gave an audible snort, but Kyoko simply smiled and said "Thank you, it's very nice to hear that from a senior actor like you." After teasing Kanae a little about keeping her daisy chains on, Kijima then took his leave since he didn't need to go back to the studio. Ren offered a ride to both Kyoko and Kanae back to LME, which they both accepted. On the drive back, Yashiro made friendly conversation with Kyoko while Kanae and Ren quietly listened in.

"I'm impressed with you Kyoko-chan. You're doing these scenes so well. It's not bringing up any painful memories of your past?"

Kanae gave Yashiro a sharp look, but Kyoko wasn't upset. "Well no, I didn't have that kind of interaction with Shotaro when we were kids. The closest I had to that kind of interaction was with Corn."

With that one sentence, said without any deep meaning behind it, all the feelings of jealousy that Ren had from watching Kijima with Kyoko were lifted. Essentially Kyoko had been thinking of him, rather than Fuwa, all throughout filming.

"I'm still a little embarrassed that I reacted that way when Director Shingai told Kijima-san to use my lap as a pillow," Kyoko admitted. "I guess I'm not used to it. I don't like it when people look up at me from below."

Ren recalled hearing something similar being wailed at him from Kyoko's worm-shaped figure after he had used Kyoko's lap as a pillow in Karuizawa. Just like that day, Ren felt his spirits lift at the "small and trivial progress" which had been made; that his past self had beat out Fuwa in Kyoko's mind. And just like that day in Karuizawa, Ren's face had slipped if the stares Yashiro and Kanae were giving him were any indication.

After dropping off Kanae and Kyoko safely without any further slip ups, Ren realized he might have to use all of his formidable acting skills to make it through the movie heart-whole. He was falling deeper than before, and he hadn't even shot a single scene with Kyoko. Meanwhile Kyoko was explaining the reasons to why Kanae shouldn't tell Ren about her role on Kimagure Rock. Finally, Kyoko voiced a question that had been in the back of her mind since the last scene of filming.

"Moko-san, can the same kind of hug give a person different feelings?'

"They can, why do you ask?"

"I was just thinking that when Kijima-san gave me that reassuring hug, it didn't have as nice of a feel or fragrance as when Tsuruga-san hugged me when I thought Corn might be broken or gone," Kyoko admitted with a confused look on her face.

The shocked look on Kanae's face alarmed Kyoko, but Kanae soon snapped out of it. "Well, that's not unusual since that was your personal experience as opposed to when you're acting." As Kyoko nodded her uncertain agreement, Kanae thought _Kudos to you Tsuruga. You're making more progress than you know._

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I know where I want the story to go, I just had problems getting it there. But thanks for the encouraging reviews, I read and reread them when I was stuck ^_^  
**


	10. Chapter 10

**Bold is for the movie**

Starting the week after the outdoor shoot, filming with the full cast for _Destined_ began. The first day was rather hectic, as a section of Narita airport was rented for a few hours of shooting. Kyoko was in costume wearing a beautiful dark green empire waist dress with her hair tied back in a sea foam green ribbon. She was standing next to Kijima who was dressed nicely in a suit and collared shirt. There were many female onlookers calling out Kijima's name while a few male onlookers asked each other who Kyoko was.

"Don't let the onlookers scare you Kyoko-chan" Kijima said.

"Oh no, I'm more astonished that an airport could be rented out" Kyoko said with a tone of awe which brought a gust of laughter from Kijima. A loud squealing and shrieking of girls signaled Ren's arrival. He was dressed in a black 3 piece suit from Armandy.

"Looking sharp Tsuruga" Kijima remarked with a smile at the effect Ren had on the girl onlookers.

"You're not looking too bad either, Kijima," Ren said smiling. "You look very nice Mogami-san. The green color brings out your eyes."

As the three were standing around making small talk, Director Shingai began calling for silence on the set and telling his actors to take their places. Kyoko and Kijima were standing near the window, where they'll be acting out their goodbye; Ren was offstage waiting for his cue. Soon the airport concourse was silent and the director's 'Action!' was clearly heard.

**"Don't put on such a face, I'll return to your side soon, Kagami."**

**"I know Hideyoshi. I'll be waiting for you, so come back as soon as you can."**

**Hideyoshi grabs Kagami's hands, drops down on one knee and produces a box.**

**"I know this isn't nearly as nice as the daisy one I made for you, but I hope you'll wear it."**

**He slips on her finger a heart shaped canary diamond surrounded by tiny clear diamonds and emeralds on a platinum band. Kagami looks from her ring, down at the man kneeling before her, and throws herself into his arms. He wraps his arms around her and stands up, lifting her off her feet and rocking her gently and stroking her hair. Placing her back down on the ground, he holds her a bit longer. As he pulls away, he kisses her forehead, bumping his forehead to hers he softly says "ittekimasu," and slips out of her arms walking away without looking back. Kagami remains standing with her eyes closed and tears running silently down her cheeks and whispers "itterasshai."**

**As Kagami gazes out the window at Hideyoshi's plane as it takes off, Katsutoshi comes out of a nearby gate, walking briskly down the terminal talking with his assistant. Katsutoshi's eyes are drawn towards Kagami, but she's watching Hideyoshi's plane becoming smaller and smaller. As Katsutoshi walks closer towards Kagami, she briefly looks away from the window and their eyes meet and hold. But Kagami turns back to the window, and Katsutoshi keeps walking past her with his colleagues. Since the airplane is no longer visible, Kagami then turns away from the window, walking in the opposite direction of Katsutoshi.**

Director Shingai calls cut, and instructs Kyoko and Ren to redo the last part of the scene again, because they are going to film it from different angles. After the scene was re-shot three times, the director yells that it's a wrap and to pack up and clear out the equipment. Since it's the first full day of shooting, the cast and crew head back over to the studio lot for the rest of the days filming, except for Kijima, whose scenes are done for the day.

"I'll miss working with you Kyoko-chan. Make sure you take care of her for me Tsuruga," Kijima said as he left. Kyoko and Ren were then hustled out of the airport by Yashiro who managed to keep the fans at bay. Once in the studio, Ren and Kyoko both underwent a series of wardrobe changes and shot numerous office scenes separately on different sets.

After a long day of filming, the last scene to be shot was when Katsutoshi and Kagami meet briefly at a charity event prior to Hideyoshi's plane crash. Kyoko was dressed in a simple indigo column gown with a lavender color shawl, her hair back in an elegant chignon. The clothes were so fancy Kyoko was afraid of getting anything on it or tearing it. She was also worried about the ring; although the director had said it wasn't real and just a prop, it still cost a lot of money to make so she was worried about chipping it or knocking a stone loose.

"Wow, look at you Kyoko-chan. Those rumors I heard about you at the photo shoot were true. I'm a lucky man, to have such a pretty daughter" Watanabe Keita, the actor playing Hirohata Kaito, Kagami's father, stated as he came up next to Kyoko.

"Thank you Watanabe-san," Kyoko said smiling at the veteran actor. Watanabe-san had treated her like a favorite niece all day, lecturing her on the pitfalls of fame and giving her candies and sweets. "I'm worried I might fall and tear the dress."

"There's no way that could happen. You've walked so gracefully all day, I'm sure you won't trip. Now, would you honor this old man by allowing me to escort you onto the set?" Watanabe said as he offered his arm to Kyoko. "There's nothing I like more than walking into a room with a beautiful lady on my arm."

Kyoko took his arm and walked with him onto the set. There were many murmurs and a lot of the crew came up to compliment Kyoko and Watanabe. Ren heard the murmuring and knew Kyoko had arrived on set, but didn't turn to look. Perhaps it was a bit of self torture, but he wanted his first glimpse of her to be when they were acting, because undoubtedly his natural reaction would surpass what was in the script; after all, Katsutoshi is immediately attracted to Kagami. Each second dragged on until they felt like years, he could hear the praise she was getting and knew she must look as good as, or even better than she had at the photo shoot. Luckily Director Shingai soon called for the actors to take their marks, and shooting finally began.

**Katsutoshi was getting bored at the charity event for the new wing of the children's hospital. While it was a worthy cause, there was only one reason he was at the event, and that was to observe Hirohata Kaito. Hirohata looked as he should; worried about the future of his company. Since the decision to sell shares of the company stock was announced, a branch of Katsutoshi's business was steadily and stealthily buying a controlling interest. As Katsutoshi smiled in grim satisfaction, he turned away from the direction of Hirohata and began looking for his assistant. While walking, he reached for a glass of champagne that a server was offering nearby. As he was doing so, his hand bumped the hand of another person. He was about to apologize but when he glanced down at the owner of the hand and met the eyes of the most beautiful woman in the room, he was rendered momentarily speechless.**

**"I'm sorry," Kagami said as she brought her hand down.**

**"It's alright. Here, let me get you a glass as well," Katsutoshi said barely able to tear his gaze away from her face. Handing her a glass, Katsutoshi's eyes skimmed her face and took in the rest of her figure.**

**"Thank you," Kagami said while taking her glass, a little unsettled by his frank appraisal. To cover her feelings she took a sip of the champagne.**

**"My pleasure" Katsutoshi replied in a warm voice.**

**Still uneasy with the almost predatory look Katsutoshi was giving her, Kagami lifted her slightly trembling free hand and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. The movements made the engagement ring catch light and Katsutoshi's eye was drawn to her ring.**

**"Well, I suppose I should let you return to the man who gave you that ring," Katsutoshi said, concealing his disappointment.**

**"My fiancé is overseas on business, but I should return to my party," Kagami replied eager to get away from Katsutoshi and his hungry eyes. "Enjoy the rest of your evening." With that she bowed and walked away.**

**Katsutoshi's eyes followed her to a group of women, where she laughed and talked animatedly. He wondered if she was discussing her wedding plans and wondered why he felt so strongly disappointed that she wasn't single. He had seen how uncomfortable she was with him, it was written all over her expressive face; etiquette had required she at least attempt small talk with him, but she been so flustered she had been unable to come up with a neutral topic of conversation. She was engaged, so why did she look so uncomfortable with the way he was looking at her? Surely he wasn't the first man to look at her with desire. Lost in such thoughts, he continued to watch her until he heard his name being called by his assistant. After saying goodbye to a few acquaintances, he glanced back over his shoulder for a last glimpse of the woman, but she was no longer with her group. Scanning the crowd, he couldn't find her; turning away in disappointment, he walked out of the party, wondering why he felt he had seen her before.**

**Peeking out from behind a pillar on one side of the room, Kagami watched as Katsutoshi left. She felt relieved, she had been aware of him and of his gaze since she had rejoined her group. A few of her friends had commented on the fact that he had been staring at her, but she had simply said he might be looking at one of them instead. Kagami knew that wasn't the truth, she had felt his gaze on her, heating her skin; but she was afraid to look in fear of making eye contact. When the other gentleman had come up to him and he had looked away, she used that opportunity to get away from her group and hide behind the shelter of the pillar. She felt silly, hiding from a man she didn't know. But the way he had looked at her made her uneasy, like her heart was trying to jump out of her rib cage. Closing her eyes, she willed her heart to slow down and collected herself. Taking one last furtive peek around the pillar to make sure the coast was clear, she turned around to rejoin her group and found herself face to face with her father.**

**"What are you doing behind this pillar Kagami? Are you playing hide and go seek?"**

**"I guess you found me otou-san."**

**At her response, a brief smile softened the features of her father, but there was still a grim and tired look about his eyes and mouth. "I was looking for you. Are you ready to leave?"**

**"Yes." Kagami took her father's arm and the two walked into the crowd.**

Director Shingai called cut and was said it was a wrap. The shooting had gone off flawlessly. After the director had told everyone it was a wrap, Kyoko had immediately wanted to take off her heels. She was used to heels after her Natsu role, but had not had to wear them for so long before. But Kyoko realized if she took off her heels, then her dress would drag on the floor. Stifling a moan, she turned to Watanabe-san, hoping to borrow his arm again.

"Mogami-san, are your feet okay?" Ren asked, appearing next to Kyoko.

"They're a bit tired" Kyoko admitted ruefully.

"Shall I carry you in my arms princess style?" Ren asked, half joking half serious. The look of speechless horror she gave him was the same as she gave the President whenever he made his flashy appearances and Ren couldn't help but chuckle a little at such an exaggerated response. "I take that as a no. I thought it was every girl's fantasy to be carried princess style."

"Don't tease her so, Tsuruga-kun" Watanabe chastised. "Here Kyoko-chan, my manager has an extra pair of slippers you can wear to your dressing room. Just gather up the hem of your dress in one of your hands to make sure you don't drag or trip on it."

Taking the pro-offered slippers and sitting down in a chair, Kyoko took off her heels and slipped on the slippers. Standing up, Kyoko couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped her lips. Gathering up the hem of her dress and holding the heels in her other hand she looked up with a smile at the group of gentlemen standing around her. As they all walked back to the dressing room Ren couldn't help but look at Kyoko. Today's shoot had gone smoothly because Ren had denied himself a glance at Kyoko before the scene started, so all his reactions were genuine. He found this version of Kyoko, with no shoes and holding up her dress to be more endearing than when she was dressed like Kagami. But all too soon, they had reached the dressing rooms, and Ren could no longer appreciate Kyoko in all her dressed up splendor.

On the drive to Kyoko's place, Ren listened as Kyoko went over the whole day of filming. Ren was relieved that Kyoko's day had gone smoothly. The pace of movie filming was different than a TV series filming, and Ren had been a little worried. When she came to the last scene, she leaned forward in her seat.

"Tsuruga-san, I had forgotten what it was like to act with you. I knew what to expect, but was still surprised by the looks Katsutoshi gave Kagami. My heart really began pounding hard and my hand was trembling. When you were gazing at me, I wanted to squirm and run under such a hungry look."

Ren was rendered utterly speechless, he wasn't sure whether to be happy or not. By the blank look on Yashiro's face, he knew Yashiro felt the same. Was Kyoko aware that the looks he gave her were the looks a man gave a woman he was interested in or did she just think of it as his superiority in acting? Not to mention her reaction to him, should he take it to heart as progress? Ren was still thinking of a way to phrase these questions when he realized he had reached the place where he usually had to drop Kyoko off.

"Thank you for the ride Tsuruga-san. Drive safely and I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night Mogami-san; sleep well" Ren said. As he watched Kyoko bow them away, he knew sleep would prove elusive that night because he would be pondering what Kyoko meant.


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning when Ren arrived on set, he was greeted by a cheerful Kyoko. Ren gave a sigh of half disappointment and half exasperation earning him a somewhat worried look from Kyoko. _So there was no deep meaning to what she said last night. Her attitude towards me is the same as always_ Ren thought. _I thought as much, so at least I didn't lose too much sleep over it._

"How does the filming schedule look today, Mogami-san?"

"The director said it wouldn't be as long as yesterday, but to expect a full day of filming."

"Are you prepared for your scenes today? The scene when you find out about Hideyoshi's death is today right?"

"Yes, I'm ready. It's getting easier to understand Kagami the more I act her out."

Ren wasn't surprised; Kyoko was becoming a better actress with each job that she succeeded in completing. As the two of them were ushered to wardrobe, Ren looked forward to watching the scene where Kagami found out about Hideyoshi. Ren was curious as to what Kyoko's interpretation of Kagami's reaction would be.

After Kyoko had changed into the ice blue blouse, charcoal pencil skirt and black pumps she approached Director Shingai. Kyoko had some ideas for Kagami's reaction to the news of Hideyoshi's plane crash that she wanted to run by the director. The stage directions in the script were vague at best; instructing that Kagami should display a profound grief that went beyond simple loss and pain. When Kyoko reached the director, he simply told her to act it out how she interpreted it, and they'll go from there. With that, the filming began.

**Kagami sat at her desk, gazing out the window, counting the hours until Hideyoshi was back in Japan. He had called from New York two nights ago, saying he was getting on the plane for California where he had a layover. Kagami couldn't wait for Hideyoshi's return; there were plenty of plans to go over for their wedding, different shops to visit and possibly cakes to sample. Not to mention Hideyoshi would sneak her out to some of the best food stalls around town, and Kagami had been craving ramen for quite some time. Hideyoshi promised to take Kagami out on a date in the city, and a ride in the big ferris wheel, as soon as he got back. Sighing, Kagami looked down at the paperwork waiting for her review. Although she was competent, the business aspect of the company sometimes bored her. She wasn't sure how Hideyoshi was able to enjoy it so much. But after trying to concentrate, Kagami couldn't shake the uneasy feeling she had. At first she thought it was just restlessness but something was still gnawing at her brain; why hadn't Hideyoshi called yet? He should be in California by now. Standing up and going around her desk, Kagami planned to go to her father to see if he had heard from Hideyoshi. But as soon as she was in front of her desk, the door to her office opened after a short, sharp knock. Her father walked in looking haggard.**

"**Otou-san, I was just coming to see you. Have you heard from Hideyoshi yet?"**

"**Yes, I just got word now…" Kaito said. Kagami sighed in relief, but then her father grabbed her hands. "Kagami…Hideyoshi's plane crashed in Nevada during an emergency landing attempt. They haven't found any survivors."**

"**No," Kagami whispered as tears began silently falling down her face as she sinks to her knees; "Hideyoshi" she whispers. Kneeling in front her, Kaito notices the loss of color in her face, and fears she might faint. As he gently grabs her arms to steady her, Kaito notices tears were no longer falling down her face; Kagami was just staring blankly ahead, her pain too profound for tears. Pulling his beloved daughter to him, Kaito holds her close trying to console her, but Kagami remains staring ahead, her eyes full of pain and anguish.**

Director Shingai called "cut" across the eerily silent set and the props crew began preparing for the next scene. Everyone had expected Kyoko to cry uncontrollably, but what they had just witnessed tore at their hearts more than her crying could have. It was an intense scene to film and an intense scene to watch. The director was talking with Kyoko and Watanabe just off the set, reviewing the next scene and praising them both for the scene they just finished. Just as Kyoko had surpassed Ren's expectations for the Mio role, Kyoko had surpassed his expectations for Kagami. The change between the happy, expressive childlike Kagami and the grieving Kagami was so great that anyone would understand that Kagami had lost her innocence in that one moment and would never be the same again. In spite of himself, Ren felt a tinge of pride. Kyoko had come so far as an actress, if only she could make just as much progress as a woman and fall in love again, but this time with him.

After Kyoko and Watanabe underwent another wardrobe change, shooting resumed at the Hirohata penthouse set.

**It had been four days since the news of Hideyoshi's crash came and Kagami was in her room, sitting at her vanity and gazing at the dried flowers from that day so long ago. Kagami was not conscious of how many days had passed; the days that had run one into another were colorless and empty. She vaguely recalled standing with Hideyoshi's parents and her own at the press conference announcing his death. Her father had checked in on her every night, coaxing her to eat and sitting with her until she fell asleep. Kagami was tired of passing each day in such a painful stupor; the more free time she had, the more she thought of Hideyoshi and all she had lost. Touching the daisy chain gently one last time Kagami got up, slipped on a black suit jacket over her black dress and walked out of her room to have breakfast with her father.**

"**Good morning Kagami. You're not planning on going to work are you?"**

"**Of course I am Otou-san. I can't allow you to pick up all the work I've neglected." Kagami replied in a carefully modulated yet toneless voice.**

"**You shouldn't push yourself Kagami," Kaito said sternly but gently.**

"**I'm not. I just can't stay home any longer," Kagami replied, her voice wavering.**

**Kaito felt it was still too soon for her to return to work, but it was better than to remain home and be haunted by memories, so he agreed. But he was unsettled by the lack of color in her voice and appearance; her once animated and lively manner had become quiet and subdued.**

**The first day of Kagami's return to work was marked by broken conversations and sympathetic or concerned murmurings every time Kagami passed by; it seemed everyone was surprised to see her return to work so quickly, and questioned her ability to work during such a painful period. But as the week progressed, and Kagami appeared to be regaining some of her coloring, the people in the office admired her gentle strength of character that allowed her to take up the position her fiancé had left behind. Unaware of the romanticized view her coworkers and employees had taken of her return to work, Kagami lost herself to the hectic pace of work that kept her mind occupied until she was alone in her room, and eventually the pain that Hideyoshi's loss caused diminished to a manageable dull ache. The physical exhaustion from each day allowed Kagami to fall asleep right away, and she no longer had nightmares of a fiery plane crash.**

**After peaking in, Kaito quietly closes the door to Kagami's room and returns to the living room where his wife is waiting.**

"**Is she sleeping soundly? Not tossing and turning, or crying out in her sleep?" she asks.**

"**Ah, she's sleeping soundly. Do you really think it's a good idea to let her go to the charity ball tomorrow night?"**

"**Of course it is! It'll be good for her to interact with others outside of work again. She's overcome a lot to get where she is now, if she sees her friends, maybe she'll be able to smile and laugh like she used to."**

"**Yes, that's true. But have you noticed? She doesn't wear colorful clothing anymore. All she wears are beige or gray suits."**

"**I think that's Kagami's way of mourning Hideyoshi's loss. I'm sure she thinks he wouldn't want her to wear black for him for too long." When her husband still looked uncertain, she continued. "You'll see Kaito, being back in her social circle will do her good."**

Director Shingai called "cut" and the cast and crew were allowed to break for lunch. Kyoko sat with Ren, Yashiro, Watanabe and his assistant eating the bento she had prepared for all of them. Watanabe had tactfully hinted that he wished he could have tried some of the bento Kyoko had prepared for the outdoor shoot, and so Kyoko had especially prepared a bento for him to sample. While enjoying the food set in front of him, Watanabe would frequently put more food onto Kyoko's plate telling her to eat more in order to keep up her strength. Ren received the same treatment as well, with a stern warning that a man with as busy a schedule as Ren's should make sure to eat a lot. This launched Kyoko into a tirade of Ren's poor eating habits with Watanabe shaking his head reproachfully and expressing horror in all the right places. Ren antagonized Kyoko by feigning innocence and interjected that onigiri have fillings so it could constitute as a very minimal basic meal. Before Kyoko could explode like a firework, Director Shingai called that lunch was over and asked them to head to wardrobe. Kyoko being the consummate professional quickly dropped whatever scathing reply she had in mind and cleared their table. After the three changed into their outfits for the scene, they made their way to the charity ballroom set and took their places.

**Katsutoshi leaned against the wall and scanned the crowd looking for Hirohata Kagami. He had discovered her identity when he saw the press conference about Asai Hideyoshi's plane crash and had stopped aggressively buying stocks of Hirohata Enterprises in respect to the ordeal her family must be going through. What he saw on the news conference had shocked him; she looked completely different, like the light inside her had gone out. Katsutoshi now understood why last time he hadn't recognized Kagami as same girl at the airport; at the airport her spirits had been dampened, and while still beautiful, she had lacked the inner light and vitality that had drawn Katsutoshi's eye. While Katsutoshi had attended the last charity event to keep an eye on Hirohata Kaito, he was attending this charity ball in the hopes that he'd see Hirohata Kagami. Katsutoshi was surprised with himself for caring so much about a stranger, not only a stranger but the daughter of the man he was targeting. But his surprise disappeared as he watched the Hirohata family enter the ballroom together. Kagami was looking subdued in a black sleeveless column gown, her wavy back in a loose chignon. Kagami was instantly surrounded by the same group of friends she was with at the charity event. While Kagami smiled at her friends, the smile didn't quite reach her eyes and looked strange on her face as well. Deciding that it would be inappropriate to approach her so soon, Katsutoshi hung back and simply mingled, always keeping Kagami in his periphery.**

**Kagami felt like she was suffocating under the sympathy and concern of her friends. Her friends had avoided mentioning Hideyoshi or anything that might remind Kagami of Hideyoshi; there wasn't much to talk about, which only emphasized how large a part of her life and identity Hideyoshi had been. While acting as if it was business as usual at the office was easy, pretending that a part of her hadn't died with Hideyoshi to her friends was not. However, Kagami found it irritating that although her friends were clearly trying to be comforting, they refused to acknowledge the loss that caused their sympathy in the first place. Hideyoshi's absence was the elephant in the room that no one mentioned but clearly noticed. But what really grated on Kagami's nerves was that her friends clearly wished to dance, had in fact brought dates, but weren't dancing since Kagami didn't have a partner. Kagami urged her friends to dance as they had paid so much to attend this ball, but none of them had. Kagami wanted to dance, but she didn't know many other men and was contemplating asking one of her friend's dates to dance just to get the ball rolling. But before she could a tall gentleman appeared before her.**

"**Good evening" the man said to Kagami.**

"**Good evening" Kagami replied, trying to remember where she had seen the man before.**

"**I'm Narita Katsutoshi, we met briefly at the children hospital's charity event a few months back," the man explained.**

"**Ah, I see. Nice to meet you Narita-san, I'm Hirohata Kagami" Kagami replied, not quite recalling the encounter.**

"**Hirohata-san, would you do me the honor of dancing with me?"**

**Before Kagami could answer, one of her friends answered "No, it wouldn't be proper." Turning a cold look at the friend, Katsutoshi said "I believe Hirohata-san can answer for herself. Besides, with the death of her fiancé, it may do her good to at least feel normal and dance at a ball." He then turned an inquiring look at Kagami. Kagami merely stood up and put her hand on his elbow and walked out onto the ballroom dance floor. Careful to make sure there was a respectable distance between them, Katsutoshi and Kagami began dancing.**

"**I'm sorry if I offended you" Katsutoshi said in a lowered voice.**

"**No, it's alright. My friends meant well" Kagami replied.**

"**They may mean well, but returning to a semblance of normal life helps the healing process." **

"**Being asked to dance by a total stranger is not something I experience in normal life. Why did you ask me to dance when there are plenty other young women here?" Kagami asked in slight annoyance. Her friends refused to talk about Hideyoshi, but this stranger seemed to want to talk of nothing else.**

"**Without dead fiancés you mean?" Katsutoshi asked with a smirk, knowing what her irritation stemmed from. "I guess I asked you out of pity."**

"**Pity?!" Kagami exclaimed, a flash of anger and outrage in her eyes.**

"**Yes, I thought you might take pity on me. I came here without a date."**

"**I can see why," Kagami replied without thinking. When she realized what she had said, she was so shocked she began to stammer an apology, but Katsutoshi had started laughing. It was a rich, genuine laugh and Kagami felt some of the tension leave her.**

**Katsutoshi felt the rigidity of Kagami's frame loosen as he laughed and felt as though he had truly accomplished something. He had gotten her angry and brought some life and spark into her beautiful amber-brown eyes. He really enjoyed her company and she could sense it. Her friends had been unsure how to act around her and had added to her tension. However, all good things had to come to an end, and the band finished the song they were playing.**

"**Would you like to dance again or perhaps take a breath of fresh air on the balcony?" Katsutoshi asked.**

"**No thank you. I think it's still too soon" Kagami replied. Katsutoshi didn't need to ask what she meant by that; she was still grieving her loss and didn't want to be seen as moving on already with another man.**

"**Thank you for dancing with me Hirohata-san. I really enjoyed myself. Perhaps I will see you at another charity event?" Katsutoshi said as he escorted Kagami back over to the table she had been sitting at.**

"**Yes, maybe we'll meet again" Kagami replied with a polite half smile. Katsutoshi thought that the smile he received was more genuine than the smiles she had given her friends. Although the smile didn't reach her eyes, her eyes didn't look as haunted as they had when he had asked her to dance. Katsutoshi had to tear himself away from her side, he didn't want to leave her in fear another man would come and ask her to dance. The feeling of having her in his arms had been too fleeting and he didn't want some other man to experience it. As he walked away, he noticed her friends leaving the dance floor to return to Kagami's side.**

"**Kagami, are you alright?"**

"**Yes, why wouldn't I be? We just danced."**

"**He was so rude before, casually mentioning Hideyoshi's death like that."**

_**The rude ones were you, who didn't mention his death at all**_** thought Kagami. "Well, Hideyoshi's death is fairly common knowledge in the business world. I expect he saw the press conference."**

"**We're sorry Kagami. We tried to avoid talking about Hideyoshi because we didn't want you to upset you; but it upset you that we didn't mention him, didn't it?"**

**In spite of herself Kagami felt tears sting her eyes, and she nodded. Before she knew it, she was enfolded in a group hug, and they were all laughing and crying. They spent the rest of the evening telling their favorite stories about Hideyoshi. By the time Kagami left with her parents, her spirits were lifted and she felt like the weight her grief had eased a bit more. As she was walking out, she saw Katsutoshi standing by the coat check. Their eyes met and he inclined his head; Kagami smiled shyly in response. She felt she owed him for the way the evening had turned out. **

**Katsutoshi knew what brought out that smile; he had seen the interaction with her friends after he left their table and was glad that she was able to communicate with them again. Although she wore a bittersweet expression most of the time they were talking the atmosphere was more relaxed. Hoping that she would look back at him, Katsutoshi watched Kagami leave, but she didn't turn back.**

Director Shingai called cut, and had Ren and Kyoko redo the dance scene for a different camera angle, so this time they were the only two on the dance floor. Shingai then had Kyoko and Ren dance further apart so as to capture Kyoko's facial expressions during their exchange about pity and the reason Katsutoshi was dateless. After the shots were finished, they were done for the day.

After they changed back into their street clothes Ren drove Kyoko to Darumaya where she had to work the evening shift. When she found out that he was on his way to another job, she told him to wait at the curb for a few minutes. Confused, Ren did as she asked and was surprised when she came running out in her work yukata, a bento and two bottled green teas in her hands. Shoving these into the car through the passenger window, Yashiro accepted them.

"It's nothing fancy but still better than onigiris. Eat it now while it's still warm. Good luck on your next job Tsuruga-san!" Kyoko said as she bowed to them.

"Thank you Kyoko-chan, I'm sure it's delicious! You'd better head back in" Yashiro said. After Kyoko gave another bow, Ren and Yashiro drove off. Yashiro counted to ten then said wryly, "Your face, Ren. It's slipping. It's been slipping ever since Shingai had you dance with Kyoko-chan three more times."

"What are you talking about Yashiro?" Ren asked with his gentlemanly smile.

"Will you be able to sleep well tonight Ren? The feel of having the girl you love in your arms lingering on your fingertips and in your mind." Yashiro asked with a smirk. That wiped the smile off Ren's face. "Here, eat up. It's easier to fall asleep with a full stomach."

--------

**A/N:** SORRY FOR THE WAIT. I'VE PRETTY MUCH DRAINED ALL OF MY CREATIVITY GETTING THIS CHAPTER OUT, SO THE WAIT FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL TAKE EVEN LONGER. I HAVE RIDICULOUSLY HIGH STANDARDS FOR MYSELF, SO I HAVE TO APPROVE OF THE CHAPTER BEFORE I PUBLISH IT. THANKS FOR THE COMMENTS, I LOOK FORWARD TO THEM AS MUCH AS YOU LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT CHAPTER, SO KEEP THEM COMING.


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning, Ren arrived on set only mildly sleep-deprived. Falling asleep hadn't been a problem as Yashiro had suggested; the problem was that Kyoko had haunted his dreams, always slipping out of his fingers at the last minute, leaving him feeling cold. When Ren had finally managed to catch her in his arms, he woke up cuddling his pillow. To say he wasn't feeling rested was an understatement.

"Yo, Tsuruga, did you not sleep well? You look a little tired," Kijima said as he slapped Ren on his shoulder.

"Morning, Kijima. No, I'm quite well-rested," Ren answered with a professional smile. "I didn't realize your flashback scenes with Kyoko were going to be filmed today."

"Yeah, today is the only day I have enough time to film these flashbacks, so Director Shingai wants to do them all in one go, instead of having me come back and do them."

"I heard you got offered a lead role for a new drama with Director Ogata," Ren said.

"That's right. You better watch out Tsuruga, I'll be taking your spot as most desirable male star."

"That's not the spot that I'm worried you might take," Ren answered, looking a little past Kijima.

"What do you mean?" Kijima asked.

"Good morning Tsuruga-san, Kijima-san," Kyoko said cheerfully as she came up beside Kijima.

"Good morning Mogami-san. Did you get a good nights rest?" Ren asked.

"Yes, I slept well," Kyoko replied, confused as to why Ren would ask such a question. "Did you and Yashiro enjoy the bento?"

"It was delicious, thank you for giving it to us."

"What's this? Kyoko-chan is making Tsuruga bentos?" Kijima asked.

"No. Taisho made the bento, I just gave it to Tsuruga-san," Kyoko replied bluntly.

_I should be used to her blunt denials, but it still hurts, _Ren thought while keeping a benign look on his face.

"That reminds me, Taisho and Okami-san are coming to see the set today. They're closing the restaurant early and coming here with Moko-san. Okami-san tells me that Taisho is a fan of Watanabe-san, so I want to introduce them," Kyoko told Ren and Kijima excitedly.

"Are we going to be introduced as well?" Ren asked.

"Of course I'll introduce you, Tsuruga-san. I want them to meet you since you've taken care of me since I debuted," Kyoko replied, not realizing the internal struggle Ren was facing. _Should I be glad she thinks I'm important enough for an introduction, or should I be disappointed that she only wants to introduce me as a sempai?_

"Did Director Shingai approve their visit?" Kijima asked.

"Yes, he approved it yesterday; and I just checked with security that Taisho and Okami-san were on the list of allowed visitors."

"Shall we have Yashiro prepare to greet them if they arrive while you're filming?' Ren asked.

"I don't want to trouble him," Kyoko replied.

"I'm sure he'll be glad to do it," Ren replied as he saw Yashiro approaching them.

"What will I be glad to do?" Yashiro asked Ren suspiciously.

"The Taisho and Okami-san from Daruma-ya are visiting the set today, and I thought you might be able to greet them if Kyoko is filming."

"Of course I can, it'll be my pleasure," Yashiro reassured Kyoko.

"Thank you very much, Yashiro-san," Kyoko replied while bowing her thanks.

"Kotoname-san will be with them, so she can make the introductions," Ren added.

As they headed towards wardrobe, Yashiro fell into step with Ren. Watching Kyoko chatting with Kijima a few steps ahead of them, Yashiro said in a voice that wouldn't carry, "Are you nervous? It's just like meeting her parents." Ren hadn't thought of it that way, but he knew Yashiro had a point. As important as the Taisho and Okami-san were to Kyoko, no doubt Kyoko was just as important to them.

"Well, I don't think it'll be a problem. Just smile your gentleman smile and it'll be fine. You know, the smile that strikes terror in Kyoko-chan's heart every time she sees it," Yashiro said nonchalantly with an evil glint to his eyes. Ren didn't deign to respond.

The set was resembled an upscale department store. The first scenes to be shot were the flashback scenes with Hideyoshi and Kagami; after that, the scenes with Katsutoshi and Kagami. Kyoko was wearing a teal tunic top with a loose silver belt, white linen Capri pants and white flats. Kijima was wearing a white dress shirt and khaki slacks. After Kyoko and Kijima took their places, shooting began.

**Hideyoshi left Kagami to sort through the bright colored tops she favored and began perusing the ties. He selected a few solid colored business ties and was looking at striped and geometric designed ties.**

"**Yuck, are you trying to dress like Otou-san?" Kagami asked, coming up and looking at the ties Hideyoshi had chosen.**

"**Yes, actually I am," Hideyoshi replied. "You're the one who loves bright colored clothes inappropriate for an office."**

**Kagami made a face at him and began looking at the ties as well. "If you're going to insist on wearing a solid colored tie, at least let it have some sort of pattern to it," she said as she handed him a tie the same red color as the one in his hand, but the weave caused there to be a slight striped pattern.**

"**This one is pretty nice," Hideyoshi said reaching for the tie. After inspecting it, he put down the one he had picked up earlier. "I like it better than the one I picked," he said to Kagami with a smile.**

**Kagami beamed back at him and went back to looking at the ties with a look of concentration. Smothering a laugh, Hideyoshi began looking as well. Hearing the little snort Hideyoshi had made, Kagami picked out a shiny blue colored tie with a silver floral pattern. "This one looks good too," she said teasingly.**

"**Really?" Hideyoshi asked, pretending to consider it.**

"**Here, see for yourself," Kagami replied. Reaching out, she began tying the tie for him.**

"**When did you learn to tie a tie?" Hideyoshi asked, watching the efficient movements of her hands.**

"**Otou-san taught me how to tie a regular tie and a bow tie so I can fix YOUR crooked ties," Kagami replied.**

"**Is this a glimpse into our married life?" Hideyoshi asked warmly.**

"**I'm not going to do this every morning," Kagami said, tightening the tie up to his neck but smiling softly. Hideyoshi gagged a little, loosened the tie and looked at his reflection in the floor length mirror nearby. He felt it was a little too garish to wear to the office, but kept it on for a bit to humor Kagami. **

"**Hmmm, it's not bad. And you tied it better than I could; maybe I'll have you tie my ties for me all the time," Hideyoshi said to Kagami's reflection in the mirror. She just rolled her eyes and turned away. Hideyoshi pulled Kagami in front of him and put his arms around her. "See, now the tie looks even better," he whispered into her hair.**

**Kagami briefly leans back into Hideyoshi; after realizing they were still in public she then calmly removes his arms from around her and walks away. Over her shoulder she says, "Don't dawdle, you promised to take me out to ramen for lunch." Laughing, Hideyoshi unties the tie, puts it back onto the table and heads toward the cashier with the ties he had picked out earlier. He catches up to Kagami halfway to the cashier and puts his arm around her shoulders, pulling her to his side. Kagami removes his arm from around her shoulders; Hideyoshi grabs her hand and laces their fingers together. **

Director Shingai calls cut and has the crew reset the cameras to shoot the beginning of the scene again; he wanted to get a different camera angle of when Kagami looks over at where Hideyoshi is standing by the ties. Before the retake begins, Kyoko scans over the people standing around the set, checking to see if the Taisho and Okami-san had arrived yet. As she scanned, Kyoko's eyes met Ren's briefly and the look on his face was that of the Demon Lord. Shocked and a little alarmed, Kyoko does a double take, but when she looks back, Ren's face is back to normal and he smiles at her. _I must have imagined it,_ Kyoko thought as she turned back to begin the retake, _if he was really mad, my sensor would have come out_.

After the retake was done, Kyoko and Kijima were shown to a set resembling the inside of a ramen restaurant. Sitting down at the table, Kyoko and Kijima looked around in amazement; the set really looked like a small restaurant and they could even smell gyoza. To their amazement, a plate of real gyoza was delivered to the table. They were then instructed to feed each other the gyoza. At this instruction, Kyoko had a panicked expression on her face; they'd fed each other at the picnic scene, now they'd have to do it again?! Kyoko had barely survived the mortification the first time.

"Director, I'm not sure they would feed each other in such a public setting as this; Kagami would be too embarrassed. Maybe it would be more believable if they fought over and played Ja-ken-pon for the last gyoza," Kijima suggested. Kyoko looked over at him, and he gave her a wink. She smiled an embarrassed but grateful smile; she hadn't wanted to object to the directions.

"That's a good idea Kijima, let's do that instead," Director Shingai responded. And so they filmed the scene as Kyoko and Kijima ate the gyoza, and when they reached the last one, they had a small tug of war. Keeping their chopsticks holding the gyoza, they played Ja-ken-pon with their free hand. Since they hadn't decided who would put out what sign, the playing was authentic. When either would win they would say "Acchi muite hoi!" and point; the loser of the match would look a different direction than the way the winner was pointing. After five straight games, Kyoko and Kijima began laughing a bit that it was taking so long; they could hear scattered giggles coming from the people off set who were watching. Kyoko won and said "Acchi muite hoi!" and pointed to the left; when Kijima looked up, Kyoko popped the gyoza into her mouth. Kijima made such a look of indignation that Kyoko nearly chocked on the gyoza she ate.

Director Shingai called cut and there was applause and laughter for the scene. Kyoko was sipping water and laughing with Kijima at the table on the set, but then she looked off the set and her face lit up. Standing up Kyoko rushed off the set, towards a frozen in shock Ren, and over to a group of people standing a bit behind the gathered cast and crew. Turning around, Ren saw that Yashiro had arrived with Kotonami-san along with the Daruma-ya couple who Kyoko was greeting. Noticing that his lead actress was preoccupied with greeting her guests, Director Shingai called for a break and walked towards Kyoko and her group. After introductions between the guests and the director were done, Kyoko and Director Shingai lead the group towards the set.

"I was so surprised when I saw Kyoko; she looked just like she had when she first came to us. Taisho was so upset when she cut and dyed her hair," the Okami-san was saying to the group in general.

The Taisho just made an 'hmph' sound at the comment his wife made. "Kyoko is still Kyoko no matter what hairstyle she has," the Taisho responded in his usual gruff manner. He glanced at Kyoko who was smiling and his face relaxed into a small smile as well.

"Oh, you say that now, but you sulked for days when she cut and dyed it," Okami-san said. Before the Taisho could respond, a voice behind them said, "Are these your special guests Kyoko-chan?" The group halted five feet away from where Ren was standing and turned to look at the new voice. "Watanabe-san, did you just arrive?" Kyoko asked as Watanabe approached the group. Yashiro and Kanae made their way over to Ren; _Oh no, I'm about to be double-teamed, _he thought.

"I saw the way you seemed rooted to your spot when Kyoko-chan ran off the set," Yashiro said a smile in a low voice. "Did you think Kyoko-chan was rushing into your arms?" Ren's eyebrow twitched.

"No way, that's impossible," Kanae said, speaking as low as Yashiro. "How could that scene possibly lead to a change of heart?" Both Yashiro and Kanae turned broadly grinning faces towards Ren.

"Kanae-chan?" the Okami-san called, looking around. "Ah, that's where you went. I suddenly noticed you weren't there."

The Okami-san's call for Kanae made the rest of the group look over to where Kanae was still standing with Ren and Yashiro; Kyoko had been smiling at the slightly flustered Taisho as he spoke with Watanabe. Realizing she still hadn't introduced the Taisho and Okami-san to Ren, Kyoko gestured for the now fairly large group to continue walking towards the set. Ren quenched a wave of nerves as Kyoko came to stand between him and the group of people.

"Taisho, Okami-san, this is Tsuruga Ren; he's my sempai at LME and has often given me acting advice," Kyoko said. "Tsuruga-san, this is Taisho and Okami-san."

Ren bowed and said "It's very nice to meet you Taisho-san, Okami-san. Thank you very much for the bento last night, it was delicious."

"It's nice to meet you too, Tsuruga-san. Thank you for always driving Kyoko home when it gets dark," Okami-san said with a smile. Taisho had nodded at Ren's compliment, but was now staring appraisingly at him; Ren barely managed not to squirm. A ghost of a smile was on both Kanae and Yashiro's faces.

"Kijima, come and meet Kyoko's guests," Director Shingai called out to Kijima, who was talking with a few crew members next to the set, ending the Taisho's staring contest with Ren; Kyoko had begun to dither, confused about the odd atmosphere. Kijima came over and made a polite bow to the Taisho and Okami-san when introduced, and greeted Kanae. Kijima had started to call her Kanae-chan, but a sharp look from both Kanae and the Taisho made him say Kotonami-chan. The Taisho gave Kijima an abbreviated appraisal. Clearly Ren and Kijima were being appraised as to whether they were acceptable companions to Kyoko and Kanae; the jury was still out.

"Kyoko, why don't you go change for the next scenes, and Watanabe can keep your guests company," Director Shingai suggested. Kyoko nodded and rushed to the wardrobe area, where she quickly changed into the cream colored shirt with short ruffled sleeves and dove-gray pencil skirt already waiting for her. Kyoko slipped on cream colored low heel pumps and slid the engagement ring back onto her finger. When she arrived back on set, the Okami-san exclaimed over how sophisticated and elegant Kyoko looked and the Taisho nodded his agreement. When silence was reached on set, the filming began.

**Kagami looked down at the bright shirts on the rack dispassionately. While she liked the styles and colors, she didn't feel she could do justice to the cheerful patterns. A wave of memory swept over Kagami; she had been browsing bright shirts while Hideyoshi had been standing a few feet away looking at the ties. Turning her head, she glanced over at the ties, lost in the memory of that day. Someone was standing and looking at the ties exactly where Hideyoshi had been standing; memory and reality blurred together, rooting Kagami where she stood. "Hideyoshi?" she said in a barely audible whisper, but the sound caused the man to look in her direction.**

"**Hirohata-san, is that you?" Kagami was snapped out of her stupor by a voice that was not Hideyoshi's. "Are you okay Hirohata-san? You look like you've seen a ghost."**

**Kagami's eyes focused on the man standing before her with a concerned look on his face. "Good afternoon Narita-san. I'm fine; I just thought you were someone else." When Katsutoshi continued to give her a concerned look, Kagami continued. "Are you shopping for ties?"**

"**Yes, I always have difficulty choosing between ties. Would you give me your opinion?" Katsutoshi asked. In truth, he didn't have problems choosing his own ties, but was curious as to what Kagami would pick. He held up two yellow ties; one a solid color and the other with a striped pattern woven into it. Kagami automatically pointed at the solid one, the striped yellow would look weird with a suit. **

"**This one isn't better?" Katsutoshi asked, shaking the striped one.**

"**If you want a striped yellow tie, this would look better," Kagami said, picking up a navy blue and yellow striped tie. While Katsutoshi inspects it, Kagami continues looking at the tie selection. Her eye is drawn to a maroon tie with an outline of a tiger woven in gold thread. Picking it up, Kagami traces the tiger with her fingers.**

"**This one is better than the solid one," Katsutoshi says. He looks over at Kagami and sees her holding the tiger tie. "What do you have there?" Kagami drops the tie like it's a burning hot coal, and says "Nothing." Walking over, Katsutoshi picks up the tie and looks down at it. Kagami is blushing furiously having been caught admiring such an outrageous tie.**

"**Do you like it?" Katsutoshi asks in a serious voice. Kagami looks up, surprised.**

"**Yes, the detailing is exquisite and it has such a rich maroon color."**

**Katsutoshi continues to stare at her then nods his head. "Great! Now I have two ties!"**

**Remembering Hideyoshi's words that wearing bright colors to work was inappropriate, Kagami says "No! If you like the color then there's one without a tiger print on it."**

"**But you picked out such a nice tie for me, why would I doubt your judgment?" Katsutoshi asked. When Kagami didn't immediately reply, Katsutoshi said, "I'd like to take you out to lunch as thanks for assisting me." Kagami's face had drained of color. "Are you okay, Hirohata-san?"**

"**Yes, I'm sorry, it just reminded me of how my fiancé and I would buy his ties and then go out to ramen for lunch afterwards."**

"**I see. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or cause you grief. I shouldn't have asked you to lunch. That was inappropriate of me. You're clearly still grieving," Katsutoshi said as he glanced down at her engagement ring.**

"**I think I'll always grieve over losing Hideyoshi, but that doesn't mean I should stop living, or eating for that manner. I'd like to go to lunch with you, just not ramen," Kagami said with as much of a smile as she could muster. Kagami wanted to thank Katsutoshi for his help at the ball with her friends. After Katsutoshi purchased his ties, the two walked out of the store together.**

A/N: To everyone who commented/reviewed my last chapter and encouraged me to take my time, I truly thank you and dedicate this chapter to you. The inspiration to this chapter suddenly struck me and writing it was surprisingly easy. In fact by the time I hit a snag in the plot, I already had enough for one chapter, so I decided to post it. The next chapter will be a continuation of this one since I split the chapter in half (I'm still working on the last part of the chapter).


	13. Chapter 13

Director Shingai approved of the department store take, and the cast and crew made their way to the restaurant set, which had been rearranged to look like a small café. Two empty plates and two cups of tea were on the table, waiting for Kyoko and Ren. The two sat down and took their marks.

**Katsutoshi had suggested going to a small café to avoid an uncomfortable situation if they ran into anyone they knew. Kagami was musing about his tiger tie; when Kagami had first met Katsutoshi, she had felt that his glance was predatory, like a tiger's. Even now, as he sat across from her sitting his tea, there was lethal grace to the way he moved. Feeling her gaze on him, Katsutoshi looked up at Kagami, startling her out of her reverie.**

"**Thank you for the meal, it was delicious," Kagami said.**

"**It was my pleasure. Thank you for the company," Katsutoshi replied.**

"**I also wanted to thank you for what you did at the ball, Narita-san. Because of you, I was able to talk normally with my friends. I was pushing everyone away, wallowing in my grief, not letting myself heal. My friends just followed my lead. I still haven't completely healed yet, but I know Hideyoshi would be sad if I simply existed instead of actually living."**

**The two looked at each other, an undercurrent of understanding and something more being transmitted in their gaze. They were unable to break eye contact until the waitress came to clear their table, replace their empty tea pot with a full one, and place a plate of cookies in front of them along with the check. Katsutoshi took out his wallet and placed money in the bill fold while Kagami refilled their tea cups.**

"**I'm sure it's difficult for you. Your fiancé seems to have been a large part of your life."**

"**Yes, it's very difficult; everywhere I go has memories of the two of us. Before, it felt like a cage, keeping me locked up in my grief. But now I've accepted my loss; I was truly blessed to have been with him for so long. I shouldn't try to repress the memories, I should cherish them."**

"**That's a good idea," Katsutoshi said with a warm smile. Kagami returned the smile then reached for a cookie to cover the sudden thumping of her heart his smile had elicited. Katsutoshi had reached for a cookie at the same time and their hands met over the last cookie. Kagami pulled her hand back and Katsutoshi did the same, his eyes widening at the sudden spark that had been transmitted through the light touch. But Kagami was staring at the last cookie transfixed, her mind recalling her battle with Hideyoshi over the last gyoza. Smiling at the fact that she hadn't pulled away because she had felt a spark as well, Katsutoshi nudged the cookie plate towards Kagami. The movement of the plate jerked Kagami out of her recollection and she looked up at Katsutoshi.**

"**You can have the last cookie," Katsutoshi said.**

"**That's not it," Kagami blushing a little at his misunderstanding, "I was just recalling how Hideyoshi and I used to resolve who got the last piece by playing Ja-ken-pon. I would sometimes cheat, so as penance I insist you have the last cookie." Kagami pushed the plate towards Katsutoshi.**

"**I have difficulty speaking about Hideyoshi to my family and friends, but I have no problem talking about him to you. It's nice, almost therapeutic. Maybe because you don't look at me with pitying eyes," Kagami confided. **

**The companionable silence that had followed her statement was interrupted by the vibration of Katsutoshi's cell phone. Katsutoshi had been so relaxed in Kagami's company he had forgotten all about work; so when he felt the vibration, his hand had jerked, spilling some tea onto his shirt and tie. Katsutoshi answered his phone after taking off his tie and wiping his shirt with his napkin. "I lost track of time, I'll be in the office within half an hour," he said before hanging up the phone. He looked down at his tie and saw the wet stain that darkened it; his shirt had faired only slightly better; if he closed his jacket the stain wouldn't be noticeable. "I'm sorry to end our lunch so abruptly, but I have to return to the office," Katsutoshi said to Kagami.**

**Kagami nodded in agreement then said "It's a good thing you have some new ties at hand."**

**Katsutoshi smiled and reached for his shopping bag. Pulling out the maroon tie, he started tying it. Kagami's eyes widened in alarm, "You're not going to wear that tie to the office are you? The blue and yellow one would look fine too."**

"**What are you talking about? This is my new favorite tie," Katsutoshi said with a smile. Kagami shook her head with a tiny smile on her face. Katsutoshi finished tying his tie and, with a serious face and mischievous gleam in his eye, asked "How does it look?" **

**Kagami looked at the tiger outline, its body making a sinewy and sleek parenthesis on the bottom of the tie. "Very distinguished," she said. **

**They stood up and as he slipped on his suit jacket, Katsutoshi asked if he could give Kagami a ride somewhere on the way to his office. Kagami asked to be driven back to the department store since she hadn't finished shopping for more blouses and her driver would be picking her up there within the hour. **

After a quick trip back to the department store set, shooting resumed.

**As they stood in front of the entrance to the store, Katsutoshi took out one of his business cards and said if Kagami would like she could take it; Kagami exchanged her own business card with his. They thanked each other for the company, and Katsutoshi took his leave. Once inside the store, Kagami went back to the women's section, browsed the neutral colored blouses, then selected and bought a few pastel colored blouses; she felt ready for some color in her life. **

After the scene was done, Kyoko returned to the Taisho and Okami-san's side. The Okami-san gave Kyoko a hug and told her how proud she was of her and the Taisho patted her head. The director then announced that everyone could break for lunch since the Taisho and Okami-san had brought food for everyone.

"Last night Okami-san called me and said they planned on closing Darumaya all day so they could spend the morning preparing lunch. They wanted to surprise you and told me to come over to the Darumaya earlier than planned," Kanae told Kyoko. Kyoko smiled at the Taisho and Okami-san and said it was a very nice surprise.

At the table, Kyoko was happily situated between Kanae and the Taisho. The Okami-san was on the other side of Kanae and next to the Taisho was Watanabe with who he had developed a genuine friendship. On the other side of the Okami-san was Director Shingai; Ren, Yashiro and Kijima filled up the rest of the seats at the table. Ren was not surprised at the seating arrangement, with the three of them as far away from Kyoko and Kanae as possible. Ren found he didn't particularly mind, he was sitting across from Kyoko and was able to see her smiling face throughout lunch. More accurately, Kyoko was smiling until the end of lunch.

"Thank you for the meal," Watanabe said to the Taisho. "I haven't eaten such high quality food for lunch since Kyoko-chan's bento. Kyoko-chan will surely make a good wife and mother with such excellent cooking skills."

On the other side of Taisho the atmosphere and temperature dropped; only one other person had brought up the subject of being a mother and Kyoko's reaction was about the same; a cloud of gloom settled over her and her face became a bit pained. Kanae, in-tune with her friend's feelings, immediately came up with a reply in an attempt to cover up Kyoko's reaction. "I'm sure she'll agree with me on this, but I plan on establishing myself as a successful actress before I even consider starting a family." While saying this, Kanae nudged Kyoko to snap her out of her pained expression.

Director Shingai came to Kyoko's rescue as well. "Kyoko-chan and Kotonami-san are still young, only 17 years of age. I don't think they're really thinking about starting a family; especially in this industry where they have difficulty maintaining a relationship with their busy schedules." Director Shingai knew that Kyoko and Kanae were in the Love-Me Section still, and if they lacked the emotion of love according to the President, then marriage wasn't even on their radar. Shingai also knew that love and marriage was potentially within Kyoko's grasp, in fact sitting across the table from her, but she seemed unaware of this potential. Shingai glanced at Ren, who appeared to be lost in thought, and steered the conversation away from the topic of marriage.

Kyoko was pondering what exactly made a good wife and mother; having had little to no experience in a happy family life, she wondered why her cooking skills made her a good mother candidate. With a second nudge from Kanae, Kyoko snapped out of her thoughts and joined the conversation at the table.

Ren, on the other hand, felt dumbstruck. He had been so focused on the goal of winning Kyoko's heart that he hadn't thought what he would do with it when he got it. But the one thing Ren knew with every fiber of his being was that if he won Kyoko over he'd never let her go. However, Kyoko's childhood and her experience with her mother would make her even more hesitant about love, marriage and a family. Ren tried to imagine what it would be like to be married to Kyoko: would it be like his parents, Kuu and Julie's marriage? God he hoped so. Judging by Kyoko's pained expression he knew that day was a long time in coming.

Yashiro had been watching both Ren and Kyoko's expressions; Kyoko's stiff reaction was easier to understand than Ren's puzzled face. _Ren is such a novice in the ways of love and romance that he probably hadn't even thought of marriage_, Yashiro thought. The idea of Ren and Kyoko married intrigued Yashiro and he began to imagine what it'd be like. Their children would undoubtedly inherit Ren's gentleman smile and Kyoko's interest in the supernatural (her grudges), leaving Yashiro with a mental picture of…Maria. _Theirs would be a truly terrifying family indeed_, Yashiro concluded.

The rest of the lunch break passed by without incident; the relaxed and happy atmosphere restored once Kyoko had abandoned her thoughts about motherhood and marriage. Kyoko was escorting Kanae and Okami-san to the wardrobe department to show off all the beautiful outfits she had already worn, and had yet to wear, before filming resumed.

Kijima was walking with Ren and Yashiro, but his gaze was on Kyoko's group who were walking ahead of them.

"I wonder why Kanae-chan hasn't thought of marriage. A beauty like her undoubtedly attracts her fair share of admirers," Kijima observed.

"She probably scares them away with that personality of hers," Yashiro said.

"You think so? I don't think she's that bad. She's pretty funny in her own way," Kijima responded. "Since I have to leave now for the outdoor set, I'll say goodbye to Kyoko-chan and Kanae-chan. I guess the next time we see each other is after you manage to steal Kyoko-chan's heart away from me Tsuruga," Kijima said with a smile before he ran to catch up to Kyoko's group.

Ren called out "o-tskare" and waved after Kijima's retreating figure. For a second Ren had misunderstood Kijima's words, but then realized Kijima was referring to Kyoko and Ren's characters Kagami and Katsutoshi.

"He's still a subtly annoying guy," Yashiro said. Ren chuckled at the comment; Yashiro had never really liked Kijima, and probably liked Kijima even less because of the attention he gave to Kanae. Ren wondered what Yashiro's true feelings were toward the raven-haired beauty; Ren felt that Yashiro protested too much about Kanae. _If Yashiro does like Kotonami-san, I could get a little revenge for all the teasing Yashiro gave me about Kyoko; Yashiro would get a little taste of his own medicine, _Ren thought with a smirk_._

"What?" Yashiro asked with a suspicious look on his face.

"Nothing, just thinking how fun it would be to get revenge," Ren replied, the gentlemanly smile on his face sent shivers down Yashiro's spine.

"What outdoor set was Kijima talking about?" Yashiro asked to change the topic. He instinctively knew the revenge smile had to do with him.

"Kijima has to do the airplane crash scene and a few others," Ren replied. "Kijima should be back on set in the evening, but I should be done with my scenes before he comes back."

"Ah, I see. You know, you won't be seeing Kyoko-chan for the rest of the evening either. You don't have any more scenes together, and Kyoko-chan will probably leave with the Darumaya couple," Yashiro noted.

"Well, it's to be expected," Ren said.

"I really don't understand how you can be so mature sometimes," Yashiro muttered as they made their way to Katsutoshi's office set.

Kyoko had shown Okami-san and Kanae her wardrobe and was standing next to the Hirohata Enterprises office set. Watanabe had gone to wardrobe, so the Taisho was standing with Kyoko and listening to his wife tell him all about Kyoko's wardrobe. When Watanabe arrived, filming on the set began.

**Kagami dropped her shopping bag in the visitor's chair and sat down behind her desk. She had dropped by the office to see if her father needed help, which he did. Kagami had barely reviewed the first paper from the stack her assistant had put on her desk when there was a knock on the door.**

"**I'm sorry you had to come into the office on your day off Kagami," Kaito said as he walked in.**

"**It's okay Otou-san, I don't mind."**

"**I see you went shopping. What did you buy?"**

"**A few new blouses that will go with suits I already have," Kagami said. Kaito looked into the bag and was surprised to see a sea foam green blouse and a lavender blouse.**

"**They're very nice. Did you have lunch yet?"**

"**Yes, I met an acquaintance at the store and we had lunch together," Kagami said with a small smile. Kaito pondered about the cause of the smile on Kagami's face, but was too relieved to see his daughter regaining her happy disposition that he didn't question her too much about it. He soon left to get back to his own work.**

**Meanwhile at Katsutoshi's company, Phoenix Alliance Corporation, Katsutoshi was sitting at his desk reviewing the paperwork for his meeting. His assistant walked in after knocking on the door.**

"**The meeting is going to start in 10 minutes."**

"**Alright, I'm ready to go," Katsutoshi said as he stood up and took his jacket off the back of his chair. As he slipped his jacket on, he noticed his assistant's eyes look at the tiger tie. "It's new, do you like it?" Surprised, his assistant nodded, afraid to disagree with his employer. When Katsutoshi briefly smiled a genuine smile, his assistant was surprised at Katsutoshi's expression; all traces of the smile disappeared as Katsutoshi headed towards his office door with his assistant. **

Filming stopped on both sets for a short break so that Kyoko and Ren could review their lines and the crew could perform sound checks for the upcoming telephone conversation scene. Kyoko found it strange that she would be reciting her lines to a dead phone and pausing as though she was hearing the response. As she was pondering this, she noticed Yashiro and Director Shingai talking; Director Shingai nodded his head and headed towards Kyoko.

"Kyoko-chan, would you mind waiting a bit longer? Yashiro thought it might be a good idea to have you and Ren actually do the scene on the phone with each other instead of talking to yourself. Do you mind?"

"No! I was just thinking I'd feel a bit silly having a one sided conversation on the phone," Kyoko said with a smile.

"Good, we're going to fix the two phones so that they connect with each other, it'll be a bit longer."

Yashiro walked over to Ren as he stood flipping through the script, reviewing the scene. "It looks like Kyoko-chan is just about done for the day. You'll be done after this scene right?" Ren just nodded, unaware of the surprise his manager had prepared for him.

**Inside his office, Katsutoshi sighed and put down the papers he was reviewing. Leaning back in his office chair, Katsutoshi turned to look out at the panoramic view from his window. Reaching into his dress shirt pocket, he took out Kagami's business card and stared at it, turning it around in his fingers. The office door swung open after a brief knock from his assistant.**

"**Did you finish looking over the papers?"**

"**Yes, it looks good. Call in the go-ahead for the project."**

"**What about the Hirohata Enterprises takeover? Do you want to resume buying up their stocks?"**

**Katsutoshi stopped turning around Kagami's card and stared at it for a bit. "No, we'll continue with buying small shares periodically until further notice."**

**After his assistant excused himself and left the office, Katsutoshi turned back to his desk. Staring at the business card in his hand, Katsutoshi picked up the phone and dialed Kagami's number.**

**While sitting at her desk finishing the last of the paperwork, Kagami's direct line began to ring. Without much thought, Kagami answered.**

"**This is Kagami."**

"…"

"**Hello, is anyone there?" Kagami asked, confused at the lack of response. **

"**Good evening, Hirohata-san. This is Narita Katsutoshi."**

"**Oh, good evening Narita-san. I was wondering if someone had misdialed my number by mistake."**

"**I'm sorry; I was expecting the answering service so I didn't say anything."**

**Kagami smiled at the flustered tone of Katsutoshi's voice and felt the need to tease him a bit. "I bet you aren't often shocked into silence. But if you'd like, I could hang up and let it go to the answering service."**

**Katsutoshi chuckled at her gentle teasing voice. "I was just calling to let you know everyone liked my new tie."**

**Kagami laughed at the idea of Katsutoshi showing other people his new tie.**

**Smiling at the sound of Kagami's laugh, Katsutoshi tried to extend the conversation. Just hearing her voice relieved some of the tension from his shoulders. "You're working fairly late tonight."**

"**I hadn't realized it had gotten so late. I was just trying to clear my inbox."**

"**I'm sure your inbox wouldn't have been so full if you hadn't taken an extended lunch hour to go shopping."**

**Kagami laughed at Katsutoshi's teasing tone. "No, I wasn't supposed to come in to work today but my dad called and asked me to help finish some pressing business. I guess I just lost track of time."**

"**Does your office have a window? The view outside is spectacular. It's that time between sunset and twilight."**

"**Wow, you're right, it's beautiful." There was a comfortable silence while both Kagami and Katsutoshi stared outside their window. It was a few minutes before Kagami spoke again. "What are you still doing in the office? Are you a workaholic?"**

"**No, I had a late meeting and had to go over the revised terms for the agreement."**

"**Oh, I see. That's good to hear, working too many late hours is bad for your health," Kagami said; before she could hear Katsutoshi's reply, there as a knock at her door. "Just a minute, Narita-san. Come in!" she called out, covering the mouth piece of the phone.**

"**Kagami, are you done yet? I was thinking we could go out to dinner," Kaito said from the doorway.**

"**Yes, I'm just taking a phone call."**

"**I see; I'll wait by the elevators for you then."**

"**Okay Otou-san, I'll be there soon." When Kaito closed the door behind him, Kagami uncovered to receiver. "I'm sorry about that; my dad was just asking me to have dinner."**

"**Ah, I see. I was just about to extend the same offer. Well I don't want to keep you too long. Enjoy your evening."**

"**You too Narita-san, have a good night," Kagami said then gently replaced the receiver. Shuffling the papers on her desk in order, Kagami stood up, put on her jacket and grabbed her shopping bags. Pausing, Kagami glanced back at her window at the darkening night sky.**

**In his office, Katsutoshi listened to the line go dead, and then replaced the phone to its base and swiveled his chair back towards the view of the city.**

"Good job everyone! That's a wrap for today. Get a good nights rest and see you bright and early tomorrow morning!" Director Shingai called out.

As Ren came off the set, he walked over to Yashiro who was smiling like the cat who ate the canary. "Did you like my surprise? I must say, the scene had a very natural feel to it."

Knowing it would knock the wind out of Yashiro's sails Ren told the truth and said "Yes, it was a very pleasant surprise. Thank you." Ren gave his most dazzling smile as well. But Yashiro wasn't fooled; he didn't feel any waves of anger coming from his charge, so he just waved it away and said "You're very welcome."

As they headed towards the dressing room, they walked past the Taisho, Okami-san and Kanae as they stood waiting for Kyoko to finish changing back into her street clothes.

"It was nice meeting you Taisho-san, Okami-san. I hope you enjoyed your visit. It was good seeing you again Kotonami-san," Ren said as he paused in front of the group.

The Taisho and Kanae simply nodded acknowledgement to Ren's comments, but Okami-san said "It was a pleasure meeting you too Tsuruga-san. Thank you for always looking after Kyoko."

"It's my pleasure," Ren replied, earning smirks from both Kanae and Yashiro. Figuring it'd be best to separate Yashiro and Kanae before they created a scene, Ren gave a final bow and walked towards his dressing room. On his way to the dressing room he ran into Kyoko.

"O-tskare Tsuruga-san!" Kyoko cheerfully said with a bow. "Have a good evening. See you tomorrow morning."

"O-tskare Mogami-san. Enjoy your evening and I'll see you tomorrow," Ren said smiling. He watched Kyoko run over to her group and watched them leave.

"Are you hoping she turns back?" Yashiro asked in a low voice near his ear. Shooting his manager a dark look, Ren opened the door to his room and took one last glimpse of Kyoko as she was leaving. The door to his dressing room closed as Kyoko turned back.

**A/N: I am SO sorry for taking so long for posting this chapter, so here I am doing the dogeza -- m (_ _) m That said, thank you to all my faithful readers for their patience and for the new readers who reviewed and told me to hurry up and post a new chapter. Life had gotten hectic, and I finally caught a break and hammered out the rest of this chapter. So I don't know when the storyline for the next one will pop into my head. In response to some comments, I'm not sure if Sho will show up again, it's a possiblity as most of these chapters are written when inspiration strikes. But thanks as always for the reviews and suggestions. Keep them coming!  
**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Thanks for your patience. Enjoy!**

After Kyoko had joined Kanae, who was waiting for her, the hairs on the back of Kyoko's neck stood up and she experienced an unknown, slightly pleasant tingly feeling. Kyoko turned back to look for the source but didn't see anything or anyone. The movement attracted Kanae's attention and she too paused to look over her shoulder.

"What is it?" Kanae asked.

"Nothing, I just felt a strange sensation and turned back to look for the source, but there's no one there," Kyoko said slightly perplexed. "It wasn't killing intent; it felt just as intense, but different."

_It must have been Tsuruga; it was most likely love-intent, if that's even a word, _Kanae thought, noticing that they were looking in the direction of Ren's closed dressing room door. _And she's still as clueless as ever; so much for progress. _Kanae felt slightly relieved; as much as she wanted Kyoko to succeed, she didn't think she could stomach watching Kyoko and Ren fawn all over each other and be lovey dovey in front of her. Just the idea of it made her feel like gagging.

"Must have been my imagination," Kyoko concluded. Turning back around, the two of them continued walking side by side toward the parking lot. They caught up with the Taisho and Okami-san next to the entrance/exit of the studio where the two were talking with Director Shingai and Watanabe-san. Kyoko and the group said their farewells and headed toward the Taisho's car. Once in the car, Kyoko turned to her two guardians and asked what they thought of the movie set and how they liked the tour; then eventually the conversation got around to her costars.

"What did you think of Kijima-san?" Kyoko asked.

"He seemed like a nice young man, very cheerful and pleasant. I'm sure you enjoy working with him," the Okami-san stated, fishing a little to see if Kyoko had any particular attachment to him.

"Yes, we have a lot of fun together. It's very easy to play my role with him; I could see why Kagami would be so attached."

Kanae knew what the Okami-san was doing and was waiting to see what Kyoko would say about Tsuruga._ Okami-san needs to be more direct or she'll get roundabout answers,_ Kanae thought.

"And Tsuruga-san was everything I heard he'd be; so charming and polite. And quite good looking too, don't you think?" Okami-san asked.

_Uwah, a straight shot, _Kanae thought with some amusement, and looked at Kyoko from the corner of her eye.

"Hmmm, I guess so," Kyoko replied.

"Doesn't he make your heart beat faster when you see him, and when he looks at you? During the cafe scene, the way he looked at you made **my **heart beat faster," the Okami-san persisted.

"Not really, no," Kyoko replied immediately and bluntly. Both Kanae and the Okami-san inwardly flinched and thanked God that Ren wasn't there to hear such a fatal blow; the Taisho gave a slight, imperceptible smile. "But even if he did make my heart skip a beat, it'd be because he's such a great and experienced actor. Yashiro-san said that he can really make his female costars fall in love with him if the script calls for it, so if my heart beats faster because of him, it's because Kagami is falling in love," Kyoko said finishing her thought.

"Isn't it hard to separate yourself from your role like that?" the Okami-san asked.

"I don't think I've ever had a problem with that. My Mio and Natsu characters took over as soon as I got into the role," Kyoko replied. _But for some reason, I can't fully get into my role as Kagami. There are still a few missing puzzle pieces that don't quite fit that I don't understand. _Kanae noticed how the sentence seemed to have been cut short, but decided to ask when the two of them were alone together.

"Yashiro-san is such a nice and capable man, don't you think Kanae-chan?" the Okami-san asked.

"Yes, he seems to excel at his job. I hope to find a manager as reliable as him," Kanae replied.

The Okami-san finally realized the girls were not going to engage in normal "girl talk," so the rest of the car ride was spent talking about how nice they found everyone who worked there, and the possibility of the Taisho and the Okami-san throwing a post-production wrap party at the Darumaya for Kyoko and her costars.

Once in the privacy of Kyoko's room, Kanae let out her pent up frustration. "Mo! Why is everyone asking us about love, relationships and getting married! Just because you're good at cooking doesn't mean you're ready to get married! Nobody gets married at the age of 17 anymore, especially not in Show-Biz."

Kyoko smiled at Kanae's outburst; _she must have been holding it in all this time,_ Kyoko thought. "Moko-san, you don't think about boyfriends or marriage either?"

"What's there to think about?! You've met my family, what makes you think I want to have that for myself?!"

"Eh? But it's such a nice environment," Kyoko said, recalling the visit to Kanae's house where Kanae had been lovingly tormented by her siblings.

"Which part of it is nice?!" Kanae asked. Sighing, Kanae sat down grabbed the script for _Destined _and flipped through the pages. "What scene are you shooting tomorrow?" she asked.

"The scene at the ice rink," Kyoko replied, flipping the pages to the scene for Kanae as she sat down next to her. Kanae read through the scene at her usual quick pace and was surprised to see Kyoko watching her with an anxious look on her face.

"It's an important scene in the movie, don't you think? Where Kagami starts to open her heart up to Katsutoshi," said Kyoko.

"I suppose so. Are you having problems figuring out how to act it out?" Kanae asked. "Usually there's no stopping you once you get into a role, but you're still uncertain. Why?"

Kyoko struggled to put her thoughts into words, but couldn't come up with a way to describe them. "I'm not sure; something about Kagami falling in love with Katsutoshi doesn't seem to make complete sense to me."

"Hmmm, I guess I can understand since Katsutoshi and Hideyoshi are so different. But a person doesn't need a reason to fall in love with someone…or so people claim," Kanae replied.

"I think it would be good if I could at least figure out the reason why Kagami falls in love with Katsutoshi so I could portray it accurately," Kyoko replied.

"Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out in the end," Kanae replied. "We were able to land the Kaindo Curara soft drink commercial because you were able to think on the spot so you'll be fine."

"But that's because it was you Moko-san!!!" Kyoko exclaimed, responding to the faint praise she heard in Kanae's statement.

"That was because you trusted me and just reacted to what I did. Are you saying you don't trust Tsuruga's acting?"

"No, I trust Tsuruga-san," Kyoko responded immediately. Kyoko's swift response surprised the both of them.

"Then you should be fine," Kanae said.

Kyoko nodded her head but didn't look very convinced.

"Mo! Stop thinking about it so much, it'll make you more confused. Just focus on the scenes you have to do tomorrow," Kanae exclaimed in exasperation. "The scene is shot at the ice skating rink. Have you ever ice skated before?"

"No, but it's like roller skating so how hard could it be?" Kyoko asked.

"Famous last words," Kanae said with a smile.

The rest of the evening was spent talking about Kanae's first time ice skating, any tips she could give Kyoko, as well as discussing her new role for the drama she was staring in.

The next day, Kyoko arrived on set to film the office scene where Katsutoshi asks Kagami to ice skate with him. After going to wardrobe and changing into a dark navy blue skirt and jacket over a pastel pink blouse, Kyoko went through make up and put on the long haired wig, which was styled so that the hair was pulled off her face by a pink tortoiseshell clip. She then made her way over to the set where Watanabe, Ren and Yashiro were standing by, and greeted them.

"Did Taisho and Okami-san enjoy their day on set yesterday?" Watanabe asked.

"Yes, very much so," Kyoko replied.

"Are you looking forward to ice skating, Mogami-san?" Ren asked.

"Yes, I've never been ice skating before so I'm looking forward to it," Kyoko replied.

"Well, Kagami is supposed to have never ice skated before either, so I'm sure it will be easier for you to appear to have difficulty this way," Ren responded.

"Is ice skating really that hard?" Kyoko asked a little worried.

"I'm sure you'll be fine Kyoko-chan, Ren will be there to help you should you start to stumble," Yashiro said with a kind smile.

Before Kyoko could respond, Director Shingai called for everyone on the set to get ready to film in 10 minutes. As Kyoko and Watanabe headed towards their office set together, Ren and Yashiro were left to walk to Katsutoshi's office set.

"What were you trying to do back there?" Ren asked.

"What are you talking about? I was simply reminding Kyoko that she can lean on you when she is feeling wobbly on her skates," Yashiro said. "Come on, Ren, ice skating is one of the best sports for couples to touch each other. Are you saying you aren't going to take advantage of Kyoko's inexperience in skating?"

"I think we both know what would happen if I try to hold her when she doesn't want to be held," Ren said.

In both their minds flashed an image of Kyoko, clutching herself and looking horrified in a very clichéd young maiden fashion. _That would be very bad. Kyoko would never get close to Ren again and Ren will be… _Yashiro thought.

"Are you willing to take responsibility for the fallout that would likely occur after that?" Ren asked in a too polite tone that sent shivers down Yashiro's spine.

"No, of course not; but who knows, maybe if the mood is right, Kyoko may awaken to feelings she thought were lost," Yashiro said.

"Yashiro, I'm surprised. You're ever the optimist. You do know we are talking about the Number One member of the Love-Me Section," Ren replied, adjusting the cufflinks on his already immaculate suit.

"Well you're right, after your numerous attempts so far, nothing much has changed so it's not likely any huge breakthrough will be made. But it seems to me there has been some slight amount of progress. Surely you won't let someone else reap the rewards of your hard work," Yashiro said, causing Ren to recall there were two potential threats out there.

"Of course not, but the script already has a fair amount of touching involved, anything else would be too obvious," Ren replied.

Before Yashiro could remind Ren that Kyoko was the most oblivious girl in the world, Ren hopped onto the set to take his place for filming.

**At the end of the long work day, Kagami sat back in her chair and spun around to look out the window at the skyline. Stretching her arms in front of herself, trying to stretch out the tense feeling between her shoulders, Kagami wondered what she could do to ease the toll a full work day had taken on her body. Relaxing at home held no appeal to her. For the first time in ages, Kagami felt like going out and be 'in the world' and not just 'of the world.' The thought brought a smile to her face, but as she relaxed her hands and started to bring them down, the light caught on her engagement ring, still on her finger.**

_**Hideyoshi. **_**The weight on Kagami's shoulders seemed to feel a little heavier and her shoulders hunched forward a bit in response to the imagined weight, and a ball of lead formed in the pit of her stomach. **

"**How long has it been now? One year? No, it hasn't been that long but it still feels like it's been a long time," Kagami said to her ring. "I still remember you, I still miss you, and I'll mourn your loss till I join you in Heaven. But what do I do until then?"**

**The only answer she received was the twinkle and shine of the stones in her ring. Kagami touched the ring lightly and her fingers gripped either side of the band, but she couldn't pull it off as she had meant to. As Kagami's vision began to blur with tears of confusion, someone knocked on her office door. Wiping vainly at the unshed tears, Kagami called for the person to enter.**

"**Kagami, are you done for today? Want to get dinner on the way home?" Kaito asked as he stood in the doorway.**

"**Ah, yes, dinner sounds fine Otou-san. Where should we go?" Kagami asked, not quite meeting her father's eye as she stood up from behind her desk.**

**Immediately Kaito heard the strain in Kagami's voice and saw the brightness of tears still in her eyes. Closing the door behind him, Kaito walked over to Kagami who was still behind her desk, and gently grabbed his daughter's shoulders. Kagami looked up surprised.**

"**What's wrong? Don't want to accompany an old man like me?" Kaito asked jokingly.**

**This brought a smile to Kagami's face. "Yes, but I couldn't think of a polite way to decline," Kagami said.**

"**I knew there would come a day when you would rebel and ignore your Otou-san," Kaito said in a false forlorn voice. Wiping away the small tears that had leaked out when Kagami smiled, Kaito asked "Thinking about Hideyoshi?" in a kind voice.**

**Kagami nodded. "Otou-san…Hideyoshi is…he's really gone, isn't he?"**

"**Yes."**

"**You know, for the first time tonight, I thought I'd like to go out somewhere," Kagami admitted.**

"**That's a good idea. So then you thought you'd like to go out with Hideyoshi?" Kaito asked.**

"**No, well yes, but then I saw my ring and thought maybe I should switch the ring to my right hand. But, I just can't bring myself to," Kagami replied.**

"**That's because in your heart, you know it's too soon," Kaito said.**

"**But I'm okay now. I can talk with my friends and I'm beginning to want to have a life outside of work again, so why..?" Kagami let her question go unfinished.**

"**That ring is one of the few things that bound you to Hideyoshi. Of course you wouldn't want to get rid of it. Hideyoshi himself put it on that finger," Kaito said. "You're no longer mourning, but you still grieve your loss. One day you'll be able to move that ring by yourself. There's no rush."**

**Feeling a great sense of relief at her father's words, Kagami felt the weight lifted. "Well since I couldn't think of anybody to go out with, would you like to go out on a date with me Otou-san?" Kagami asked.**

**Before he could answer, Kagami's phone rang. "It's my direct line, I wonder who it is. Hold on a second Otou-san," Kagami said as she reached for the phone.**

"**Hello, this is Kagami."**

"**Good evening, Hirohata-san. Otsukaresama deshita," said a deep voice on the other end.**

"**Otsukaresama deshita, uhm…" Kagami's voice trailed off.**

"**Sorry, how rude of me, this is Narita Katsutoshi. You helped me pick out a tie," Katsutoshi said.**

"**Ah yes, of course," Kagami said. "Could you hold for a moment please?"**

"**Yes."**

"**Otou-san, I'm going to take this call," Kagami said to her father.**

"**Alright, I guess I'll take your mother out for dinner instead," Kaito said as he turned to walk out of the room. When the door had safely shut behind him, Kagami took the line off hold.**

"**Sorry for the wait," Kagami said.**

"**I hope I wasn't interrupting anything."**

"**No, I was just talking with my dad. I told him to go ahead of me."**

"**Well then, if you're available, would you like to go ice skating with me?" Katsutoshi asked.**

"**Ice skating?" Kagami asked in a bewildered voice.**

"**Yes, ice skating. Is there something strange about that?"**

"**It's just that I can't picture you as someone who ice skates Narita-san," Kagami said with a smile in her voice.**

"**It's a great way to clear your head and refresh yourself," Katsutoshi replied, smiling at the smile in Kagami's voice.**

"**I see. I've never been ice skating before so I wouldn't want to slow you down."**

"**It's fine. It'd be just the two of us, and I can teach you if you'd like."**

"**Just the two of us? None of your coworkers?"**

"**Well, I don't exactly broadcast that I ice skate to my associates. I rent out the ice rink for the whole night for myself. But I thought you might enjoy ice skating."**

"**I'd be honored to join you," Kagami replied in a serious voice, feeling oddly happy to be allowed to see an unexpected side to the man she had met.**

"**Great. Shall I pick you up at your office in 10 minutes?"**

"**Actually I would have to go home to change my clothes since you can't really ice skate in a business suit. Can I meet you at the rink in 30 minutes?"**

"**Certainly. I'll see you then."**

The scene was cleared and the cast and crew began preparing to leave for the ice rink. A large ice rink had been rented out for filming, and the props department began loading a couple vans with different rigs to attach to the skating rink. Everyone who was going to be on set was taking a passenger van to the location and back.

Kyoko and Ren headed towards wardrobe to change into the casual clothes chosen for the ice rink scene. Kyoko changed into a black V-neck sweater, light blue jeans, and black sneakers. Her makeup was retouched and her wig was switched with a wig that had the long wavy hair arranged in a ponytail. The weight of the ponytail took some getting used to, as most of Kyoko's roles had had short hair. She was still fiddling with it when she walked out of the make up room. To her surprise Director Shingai, Yashiro and Ren were all gathered together talking in a group.

"Sorry, have I held everyone up?" Kyoko asked when she approached the group.

"No, they're still packing up the equipment. Ren and Yashiro were telling me you've never ice skated before. Is that true?" Director Shingai asked.

"Yes, is that going to be a problem?" Kyoko asked worriedly.

"Not really, but I think I'll give you extra time to try to adjust to being on the ice," Director Shingai said.

_Is ice skating really that hard? _Kyoko thought to herself. She glanced at the expressions on the three men's faces and stopped on Ren's. Ren had been staring blankly at her since she joined the group.

"Is something the matter Tsuruga-san?"

Ren blinked a few times to get himself back to reality. "You look different with your hair styled like that," Ren managed to say.

"It's been a long time since I had long hair. I hope the wig will be alright while I'm skating," Kyoko said, self consciously raising a hand to the wig.

"People from hair and makeup will be coming with us. I'll go check to see if they're ready yet. You three make your way over to the vans," Director Shingai said as he walked towards the makeup rooms.

As the three of them walked toward the vans, Ren looked down at Kyoko, her ponytail swishing gently from side to side. The hairstyle emphasized her long slender neck, made longer by the V-neck sweater she was wearing. _All that exposed skin at her neck and nape will make her cold at the ice rink, _Ren thought. And to keep her from feeling cold, Ren would gladly volunteer to cuddle her to him. Ren could feel his body temperature rising at the thought of holding Kyoko tight. _We can't get to the ice rink fast enough. Hopefully the chill will cool me off, _Ren thought as he climbed into the van, ignoring Yashiro's knowing look_._


	15. Chapter 15

When the cast and crew arrived at the ice rink, Director Shingai began calling out instructions for the camera set up around the rink. There was going to be a running track around half the rink so that the camera would be able to film Ren and Kyoko close up. While all the preparations were being completed, Director Shingai instructed Kyoko and Ren to go to try on the ice skates left for their use.

Ren managed to find skates that were his size and laced them up quickly and with the aid of the ice skate tightener. He looked over at Kyoko to see she was having difficulty lacing up her skates having no idea how to use the ice skate tightener. When he walked up to Kyoko he saw that the laces were loose in some areas and too tight in others.

"You don't want your skates too loose or too tight for skating Mogami-san, or else you'll get hurt when you fall," Ren said.

Kyoko looked down at Ren's perfectly lace up skates and frowned to herself. She began unlacing her skates, when Ren swept her hands away and said "Allow me."

Kneeling in front of Kyoko, he showed her the ice skate tightener and retied her skates. After both skates were tied, he instructed her to stand up. Kyoko had been worried about balancing herself on such thin blades, but she was delighted that she wasn't having troubles to staying upright.

"How do the skates feel? Not too loose or too tight?" Ren asked.

"No, they're fine. Thank you for lacing them for me Tsuruga-san," Kyoko replied.

By this time they had both reached the entrance to the ice rink. Ren reminded Kyoko to take off the rubber covers over the blades and hold onto the low wall while stepping onto the rink. Yashiro was standing next to the entrance waiting to hold onto the covers for the both of them. Ren took his off and got onto the ice to wait to assist Kyoko if she needed.

Kyoko took off both his covers and handed them to Yashiro. Placing one hand on the banister around the rink Kyoko tentatively put one foot down on the ice. She then shifted her weight and put the other onto the ice. It felt radically different on the ice than it had on the carpet, so Kyoko readjusted her weight and kept her hand on the banister. Ren was hovering just within arms distance. Feeling steady, if not stable, Kyoko attempted to glide forward when her legs spread out as though she was trying to do the splits; any attempt to right herself just made her wobble and windmill her arms. Immediately she felt Ren's hands grip her under her arms and he helped heave her back into a standing position.

"It's alright Mogami-san, everyone does that the first time they get on the ice," Ren told her reassuringly, hands still lightly on her shoulders even after she had grabbed the wall for safety.

"This is nothing like roller blading!" Kyoko wailed.

"No, not really," Ren agreed. "But learning to ice skate has the same steps as learning to roller blade."

Kyoko looked at him doubtfully as though he was teasing her.

"The first thing you need to do is find your center of balance. Just try letting go of the wall and just standing still on your skates," Ren instructed, ignoring the look Kyoko had given him._ I really need to fix her image of me, _Ren thought to himself.

Kyoko did as he instructed, balancing herself first with her hands on the wall, then with just one hand and finally with both hands off the wall. For the most part she was standing still, with little readjustments to the weight she put on her skates, keeping her hands out and to her sides.

"Very good Mogami-san, now just move your skate forward as though walking back towards the wall," Ren instructed.

Kyoko did as instructed and made the half stride back to the wall safely. By this time Director Shingai made his way over to where Yashiro was standing in front of Kyoko.

"I see you're getting the basics of skating Kyoko-chan. While it is tempting to film you learning how to skate as Kagami, I think it best if you could at least be able to skate around next to the wall by yourself before we start filming," Director Shingai said.

Kyoko nodded her head at the instructions and Director Shingai turned to Ren. "Ren, you should skate around and get back into the movements of skating since Katsutoshi should be a semi-regular skater." When Ren nodded his understanding, Director Shingai went off to oversee the set up telling them that filming should start in 30 minutes.

"Ren, why don't you do a couple laps around the rink and get warmed up. I'll walk around the rink next to Kyoko," Yashiro said.

"Mogami-san, try to keep up the walking motion as you skate around the rink. A good tip is to push at an almost diagonal direction," Ren said.

"Can you show me what you mean? It might be easier if I try to imitate your movements," Kyoko said, shifting her weight so she was facing the inside of the rink instead of the wall.

Ren did as she asked a few times then went off to skate himself. As he was reveling in the cool breeze he received while skating he kept Kyoko in his line of vision. There were a few times where she nearly fell and only managed to grab the wall just in time. Yashiro would then lean over the wall and help pull her to her feet. By the fourth time this happened Ren noticed a dark aura around Kyoko and skated his way over. He was nearing her side when she noticed he was coming over and shot a very Mio-like glare in his direction.

"Don't get discouraged Mogami-san, it's difficult at first, but once you've got the hang of it, you'll be gliding around in no time," Ren said reassuringly.

She gave him a skeptical look and silently started trying to skate around again. She had the basic motion down but it was a little clumsy and she would sometimes dig the toe of the skate into the ice, stopping or slowing her forward momentum and causing her to lurch forward loosing her balance. Ren decided not to say anything but skate slowly next to her so that she was able to see his feet. Kyoko began to pick up on his movements and imitate them herself; she was soon able to skate around slowly. Ren then skated away to see if Kyoko would be able to maintain the momentum and movements without his example and when he looked back he saw that she was still skating forward without touching the wall; she was leaning forward to keep an eye on her skates. When Ren made a lap around back to her side he told her to try standing upright but keep her knees bent so that she wouldn't hurt her neck or back. It took a little while but she was able to stand upright and skate forward jerkily without touching the wall. Director Shingai was leaning against the low wall a little ways ahead of them, waiting for them to reach him. Having not learned how to stop, Kyoko merely turned her body into the wall and slammed against it to stop her momentum.

"Very good Kyoko-chan. You're exactly at the level we need for filming. Do you think you can do that again once you get back onto the ice?' Director Shingai asked.

"Yes, but it might take me a while to get back into the swing of it," Kyoko said.

"It's fine if you're clumsy at first because Kagami is a novice," Director Shingai replied. "You both looked good out there, so get off ice, cool down for a little bit and we'll start filming at the beginning of the scene."

Ren and Kyoko got off the ice, put the covers back on the blades and took off their skates. Putting her shoes back on and standing up, Kyoko felt a little sore in her calves.

"It's best to stretch a little now or else you might cramp up when you get back out there," Ren advised. The two stretched a little, and then reviewed the lines in the scene. Director called for the two to go to their marks at the entrance of the rink and filming began.

"**Wow, you rent out this whole ice rink for yourself?" Kagami asked looking around the rink in amazement.**

"**Well I really only rent it for a couple hours. I've become good friends with the owner of the rink," Katsutoshi replied, "I'll go get your skates for you."**

**Kagami sat down on a bench next to an entrance to the ice rink. The cool air coming off the rink felt refreshing and Kagami felt a thrill of excitement into ice skating for the first time. Now that she thought about it, there were many places she had never visited before that people her age undoubtedly already had. Before she could think too deeply along those lines, Katsutoshi came up next to her holding two pairs of skates. **

**After Katsutoshi laced up his skates and assisted Kagami with hers, they made their way to the edge of the ice rink. Katsutoshi stepped onto the ice first and then stood waiting for Kagami to make her way onto the ice. Kagami put her hand on the wall then placed one foot then the other onto the ice. After achieving her balance Kagami looked up at Katsutoshi for instruction.**

"**Now that you have your footing, slide your foot forward as if you're walking but dragging your feet," Katsutoshi said.**

"**Ladies never drag their feet," Kagami teased, stalling for time.**

"**They do if they're ice skating," Katsutoshi replied.**

**Kagami slid her right foot forward which automatically shifted her weight onto that foot; unsure what to do with her left foot, she tried to slide it forward too, resulting in her losing her balance. Flailing her arms trying to achieve balance, Kagami almost fell but Katsutoshi grabbed her left arm and stabilized her. Kagami looked up at Katsutoshi, face flushed red with embarrassment.**

"**That was graceful," Kagami joked.**

"**That was very good considering it was your first time. You managed to do a step but didn't trust yourself. Try again," Katsutoshi encouraged.**

**After a few more attempts, Kagami managed to have a very rough and choppy way of skating. Katsutoshi had been patiently skating beside her always able to grab her arm and steady her before she fell.**

"**Thank you for instructing me Narita-san, but I'm sure you didn't plan on skating around at a snails pace. That would hardly be refreshing. You can go ahead and skate around by yourself, I'll keep up my practice next to the wall," Kagami said.**

"**Are you sure Hirohata-san?"**

"**Yes, I'll be fine."**

**As Katsutoshi skated off around the rink, Kagami watched him for a bit, envying his easy long strides on the ice. He was graceful much like a large cat. In his gray sweater and dark blue jeans Kagami thought he looked like a panther. She still recalled the way he had an almost predatory look when she first met him at the ball. Kagami had been hyperaware of his tall frame next to her radiating heat while he was instructing her; her plea to skate was for the reason she gave and to give herself a little reprieve. Realizing she was staring, Kagami then returned to her practice. Kagami had progressed around half the rink and her confidence was rising, so she removed her hand from the wall and attempted to skate without its aid. Using short strides caused her skate to dig into the ice so Kagami tried to lengthen the strides resulting in an abbreviated and shaky glide. Every once in a while she would clutch the wall when she wobbled, but otherwise Kagami was managing to skate on her own. Kagami paused and realized she had made it back to their starting point all on her own.**

"**I did it!" Kagami exclaimed, turning towards the center of the rink. "Narita-san, I skated on my own the rest of the way around the rink!"**

**Katsutoshi came skating over and stopped in the middle of the rink. "Well done Hirohata-san! Now try skating away from the wall."**

"**Skate away from the wall?"**

"**Yes, skate towards me."**

"**You're too far."**

**Katsutoshi skated half the distance. "This is far enough. You can do it."**

**When Kagami still hesitated, Katsutoshi extended his hands palms up in front of him "Don't worry, I'll catch you if you're about to fall. Skate towards me and then grab my hands."**

**Kagami leaned forward and stuck out her own hand, realizing it was only a little more than an arm's distance away from Katsutoshi's. Kagami pushed away from the wall and took a few strides forward with both her hands stretched out in front of her, intent on being able to reach his hands. Kagami was so focused on her feet and trying to grab his hands that she didn't realize that he was skating backwards. Finally he stopped and Kagami found that she had so much momentum, she skated past his hands and grabbed onto his upper arms to stop herself.**

"**Look, you made it ¾ of the way across the rink on your own," Katsutoshi said, smiling softly down at her, his hands gently cradling her elbows.**

"**Really?!" She turned her head around and saw he was telling the truth. "I knew I had already skated further than where you started but not this far!" She turned back around and beamed up at him.**

"**I was trying to make it all the way across the rink but I figured you'd catch on and panic," Katsutoshi said.**

"**But ¾ of the width of the ice rink on my first attempt at skating is a big accomplishment. I might just be an ice skating natural."**

"**Is that so?"**

"**Well I suppose I have a good teacher," Kagami admitted. She suddenly realized she was technically within the circle of Katsutoshi's arms. Without thinking, she extended her arms and propelled herself backward. The heel of her skate snagged into the ice and she began falling. With quick reflexes, Katsutoshi grabbed Kagami's forearm and pulled; however, he pulled too hard and Kagami lurched into his chest. Katsutoshi's arms hugged Kagami too him for a couple seconds, then he released her and skated a half step back, his hands on her shoulders.**

"**I'm sorry, I lost my balance," Kagami muttered looking at his shoulder, not able to meet his eye.**

"**It's fine; it happens," Katsutoshi replied. "As a reward for your achievement, I'll push you around the rink," Katsutoshi said as he skated past and behind Kagami. He placed his hands gently on her shoulders and began to skate, pushing her in front of him. "Bend your knees a little so it's easier for you to keep your footing," he advised.**

**At first Kagami remained a little rigid from the embarrassing episode before, but since Katsutoshi didn't seem worried about it, she began to relax and enjoy the feeling of skating around without doing any work. She closed her eyes and let the chill air cool her flushed cheeks.**

"**Can you feel the rhythm of my skating?" Katsutoshi asked. When Kagami nodded, he said "Try matching it with your own feet, that way we can pick up speed."**

**At first Kagami had trouble with her footing, slowing them down a few times, but after 2 turns around the rink, she was able to relax and match the rhythm even around the turns. Kagami was so focused on maintaining the rhythm that she didn't notice when Katsutoshi released her shoulders.**

"**Doesn't the breeze feel nice when you're skating?" Katsutoshi asked from next to her, where he was skating at the same pace.**

"**Yes, it really does clear your head," Kagami agreed. Then she realized his voice had come from next to her not behind her and her eyes widened in surprise. Just when her footing faltered, Katsutoshi grabbed her hand and began pulling her to allow her to regain her tempo and footing. Then he started pulling her faster and faster until she grabbed his hand with both of hers and was being dragged around the rink by Katsutoshi. Eventually he released both her hands and she eventually slowed and stopped by the wall, eyes twinkling with mirth and still giggling a little bit. He skated to a stop next to her, skates kicking up a little ice.**

"**All that skating and laughing has made me hungry," he said. "Would you care to join me for dinner?"**

"**I'd be delighted to."**

**When they realized they needed to go to the opposite side of the rink, Katsutoshi offered his hand to Kagami. She took it, but instead of allowing him to pull her along like he intended, Katsutoshi was surprised to find Kagami skating alongside him. He concentrated on the feel of her small hand in his larger one and felt the band of her engagement ring on his palm, scalding it as though to remind him that he shouldn't be touching the beautiful lady next to him. Katsutoshi loosened his hold of Kagami's hand unconsciously and was surprised when Kagami tightened her hold; Katsutoshi returned the pressure before releasing her hand as they reached the exit to the rink. **

Director Shingai called cut and said that he wanted to get someone on the ice for a closer shot of the end of the scene when the two held hands. While he was preparing for a member of the crew to get on the ice, he let Ren and Kyoko take a break. Yashiro was waiting on the sidelines holding two cups that were slightly steaming. When Kyoko got back on solid ground she found her legs wobbly like a newborn calf. Clutching the banister, knees threatening to give out and leg muscles shaking, Kyoko made her way to a bench and sat down. When she looked up she found Ren standing over her holding the two cups of hot chocolate and a look on his face that was part concern and part amusement.

Taking the proffered cup of cocoa, Kyoko felt compelled to explain before Ren had a chance to tease her. "My legs didn't enjoy the ice at first, but they seem to regret parting with it now."

"Really? My legs seem to be doing okay," Ren remarked. When he saw the beginnings of a pout and brief glare from Kyoko, Ren finished his sentence "…but then again, this isn't my first time ice skating."

The two fell into amicable silence as they sipped their hot drinks; Ren preferring his spiced apple cider over hot chocolate but it was still too hot to drink. Without appearing to, Ren watched Kyoko from his peripheral vision. With her black hair and a happy atmosphere surrounding her, she looked endearingly like the grown up version of the Kyoko from his childhood memories.

"So how was your first experience ice-skating Mogami-san?"

"Once I got the hang of it, it was great. But I'm not too sure I'll be saying the same thing tomorrow."

"Sore muscles are a part of the ice skating experience. Muscles you didn't even know you had will protest their abuse tomorrow morning so it's a good idea to stretch before you go to sleep."

Kyoko nodded her agreement and brought her Styrofoam cup to her lips to take a sip. Worried that she'd burn her mouth if she drank too deeply, Ren quickly put his hand over the mouth spout of the cup. Kyoko ended up kissing his hand near his knuckles. To Ren it felt like an electric shock ran through him originating from the place Kyoko warm, soft lips had touched his hand, sparking to life the desire that always lay under a tenuous thread of control.

After a stunned second, Kyoko broke contact from his hand and stared up at him with wide shocked eyes. For what felt like an eternity the two stared at each other; Ren's eyes and face mirrored Kyoko's shock but Kyoko also noticed that Ren's eyes had started to get that sultry look of the Emperor of the Night. Panicking, Kyoko quickly stammered "I'm sorry!"

Kyoko's apology snapped Ren out of his thoughts. "No, I should apologize. I was afraid you would burn your mouth on the hot chocolate and tried to stop you," Ren said as he removed his hand from her cup. Blushing furiously and to cover her frazzled nerves, Kyoko brought the cup to her lips and took a tiny sip; the warm chocolate soothed her nerves and put moisture back to her mouth which had suddenly gone dry.

"Kyoko! Ren!" Director Shingai yelled from across the rink, causing them both to give a start. "We're all set up. We can finish filming whenever you guys are ready!"

The two acknowledged Director Shingai and stood up. Kyoko took a few more sips of her chocolate, not sure how to fill the awkward silence that fell between them. Placing their cups on the bench the two of them stretched their legs a little before heading back to the rink.

Ren stood on the edge of the ice rink and waited for Kyoko to take off the covers from her skates. He held his hand out towards her and Kyoko hesitated to take it.

"Hold my hand this time, not kiss it," Ren said in a deadpan voice. Looking up at his face, Kyoko found Ren smiling at her, his eyes twinkling. Ren watched as Kyoko's face slowly lit up with mirth at the joke he had made in the hopes it would downplay the incident. Relieved that the joke had worked, the two took their places and finished filming the scene. But even the ice cold air couldn't cool the burning tingle on Ren's hand where Kyoko's lips had touched his bare skin.

------

**A/N: I'm sorry for such a long wait. I had finished most of this chapter but couldn't think of a way to end it to my satisfaction. But luckily inspiration came to me again. I'm thinking about finding a beta-reader, someone I can bounce ideas off of and help me close some holes in my plot. So I'm appealing to you, my faithful readers! Send me a PM and hopefully we'll have a meeting of minds.**


	16. Chapter 16

As Ren, Kyoko, and the rest of the cast and crew were driven back towards the set Kyoko pulled out her copy of the movie script and reviewed the upcoming scene. This was done more for the purpose of something to do than to review the scene. Shooting the ice skating scene had left Kyoko more shaken than she would care to admit. The last part of the scene where they held hands had caused her heart to start thumping; and she had impulsively squeezed his hand tighter. Kyoko had suddenly become all too aware of Tsuruga Ren the man, not the actor/sempai.

_Get a grip, me! _ Kyoko thought to herself while staring at the script in her lap. _ Of course Tsuruga-san is a man; he's Japan's number one leading man! Your heart is not being swayed, you're just acting...its fine…you're fine…_

"Mogami-san?" Kyoko's head snapped up at the sound of her voice being called. She turned her head towards the source of the voice, to see Ren looking at her, his head silhouetted by sunlight. But more than the sun, it was his face that had a heavenly and sparkly aura. Kyoko brought up her arms protectively to shield her face in the same manner as when Ren had woken her up in his living room during the time she had been his replacement manager.

"Mogami-san?" There was a definite edge to the voice now. "That pose again; you're being rude."

"Ah, no…the sun blinded me. I'm sorry," Kyoko replied bringing down her arms and aiming a feeble smile at him. The atmosphere was getting somewhat heavy as Ren continued to stare Kyoko down. Yashiro loudly cleared his throat causing Ren to put up his phony gentleman's smile. Kyoko was instantly on alert.

"I'm sorry, I was lost in thoughts about my role and wasn't paying attention," Kyoko said, abashed.

Ren's gentleman smile eased into a genuine smile. _Even though I've seen that shielding reaction from her a few times, it somehow hurts more now when she does it. My minute progress has become miniscule progress._

"Are you having any difficulties with your version of Kagami?"

"Not exactly difficulties…it's just a feeling that one small piece of the puzzle doesn't quite fit in perfectly. I still don't feel like I've made Kagami my own; not like I have with Mio and Natsu. Director Shingai told me today's shoot was exceptionally important because it marks a turning point in Kagami and Katsutoshi relationship, but I'm not certain how. "

"Isn't it because Kagami confides her feelings to Katsutoshi? She opens up her heart to him by telling him about her aspirations and he supports and encourages her," Ren replied. _Like me, _he thought silently.

"That's true," Kyoko said. _I know I lack the basic human emotion of love but sharing confidences can't be love, can it? That's just friendship. Friendship can lead to love but becoming friends doesn't mean it will naturally lead to love. Kagami has other male friends so what sets Katsutoshi apart?_

While Kyoko was silently going over the thought in her mind, Ren observed her for a bit in silence then became lost in his own thoughts. _Katsutoshi falls in love with Kagami because she represents all the good things in life he has forgotten. Kagami falls for Katsutoshi because she comes to rely on him and he supports her personal growth. It was simple and straightforward, wasn't it?_

In the seat next to Ren, Yashiro first looked at Ren then at Kyoko. Both were lost in their thoughts; Kyoko's expression somber while she was deep in thought; Ren's expression showed confusion. _If it wasn't so interesting, I'd feel bad for Ren, _Yashiro thought. Yashiro's gaze returned to Kyoko and was surprised to find her looking at him. She didn't seem to be aware that she was staring at him; her gaze was slightly out of focus, like she was thinking about something, seeing but not really seeing him. Before Yashiro could figure out whether to start a conversation with her, Kyoko shook her head, turned and looked blankly straight ahead of her. _Somehow I feel I've been dismissed and pitied._

_Who else can I ask for advice?_ Kyoko had gone though her mental Rolodex: _Moko, no, Moko might not know either, plus she's shooting today. Taisho or Okami-san? Definitely not Taisho, possibly Okami-san; but I don't have time to call her before the shoot. Tsuruga-san…_Kyoko's gaze slid sideways to Ren. _Tsuruga-san didn't even realize he was in love with that high school girl, so it's doubtful he can really give advice. _ Kyoko's gaze slid past Ren to settle on Yashiro. _Maybe Yashiro-san...I don't see how Yashiro-san could have time for a love life with Ren's busy schedule. _Unconsciously Kyoko shook her head and returned her gaze to the front of the car. _Maybe I should just ask Director Shingai. He knows I'm in the Love-Me Section so it shouldn't be that big of a surprise; he did give me that hint so maybe if I ask him, he'll follow up. Or possibly even Watanabe-san_.

When they arrived on set, Director Shingai went to review the video taped at the ice rink giving Kyoko and Ren some free time before the shoot. As Yashiro and Ren went over the schedule for the rest of his day, Kyoko slipped away and went to find Watanabe. She found him sitting with his assistant in the refreshment area.

"Watanabe-san, I was hoping you could help me with a problem I have with the script," Kyoko said hesitantly.

"Certainly, Kyoko-chan, but I'm surprised you're asking me. You have a reliable sempai working with you here on set," Watanabe said.

"I already asked Tsuruga-san, but I still don't understand and I don't want to bother him," Kyoko replied.

"Alright then, what seems to be the problem?"

"I understand that Kagami begins to fall for Katsutoshi after today. But I still can't understand why. Kagami and Hideyoshi had a very strong bond and loved each other very much. I understand that Kagami confides in Katsutoshi things she never told her family or friends, but why isn't that just simple friendship?"

"Why do you think Kagami confides in Katsutoshi?"

Kyoko couldn't think of an answer; she opened her mouth a few times to answer but the responses seemed weak so she closed her mouth again. Watanabe chuckled.

"Alright, let's try a different approach. If Hideyoshi hadn't died, do you think Kagami would have realized how sheltered a life she lead?" Watanabe asked.

"No."

"If Katsutoshi hadn't met Kagami at the charity event, and Kagami hadn't been exposed to things outside of her privileged lifestyle, would Kagami have gone ice skating with her friends?"

"No," Kyoko said. The picture was forming in her mind. "Katsutoshi opened a new world to Kagami, showed her things she hadn't known about before and shared experiences with her. This created a bond between them, and Kagami realizes there were things that she'd always been curious about but would never have pursued, or thought to pursue, if she hadn't met Katsutoshi."

"Yes. While the bond between Kagami and Hideyoshi was strong and still present even after his supposed death it didn't mean Kagami wouldn't be able to find a connection with another man. It's just like the difference between puppy love and mature love," Watanabe said, as if that explained everything.

"…yes?" Kyoko prompted Watanabe.

"It's like the difference between your first love and your second love," Watanabe said. When this statement was met with silence and the same confused look, Watanabe asked incredulously "Kyoko-chan, do you remember how you felt with the first guy you fell in love with?"

"Yes; all too well," Kyoko replied in a voice of doom; her grudge Kyokos beginning to waft around.

"Now do you remember how you felt when you found a new love?"

"No," Kyoko replied, slightly confused to where the conversation was heading.

"Oh, so you're still with your first love?"

"Definitely not!!" The Grudge Kyokos were emphatically shaking their heads as well.

"Well why not?"

"Because my first love didn't work out well I lack the emotion of love; both wanting love and loving others. That's why I'm in the Love-Me Section."

To Kyoko's astonishment, her statement caused Watanabe to start laughing. "Ah, to be your age again! It really is the springtime of youth!"

"I did everything for him and he just threw me away, what kind of springtime of youth is that?!" a flustered Kyoko said indignantly.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry; you're right, he was a bad guy for using you. I assume this young man was someone you grew up with, much like Hideyoshi and Kagami?"

"Yes."

"You see Kyoko-chan, love comes in different forms. What Hideyoshi and Kagami had, and likewise what you and that young man had, was puppy love or young love. The kind of love where you think you'll be happy forever; there aren't any hardships that could possibly stand in your way. Am I right?"

Kyoko nodded. Her mind replayed the repeated phrases of her childhood: _If Sho's dreams come true, he'll smile! For Sho I can put aside doing things for myself. Sho is my number one! If I have Sho, I don't need anything else._ The grudge Kyokos began to swarm around their master, agitated by the memories.

"Puppy love doesn't face the harsh realities that life really has in store. So although it's nice in its own way, puppy love isn't lasting. Mature love however, is something different. When a young person like yourself matures, you realize you have to work hard for everything and that includes love. Mature love comes along gradually, slowly, and not always to a persons knowledge. Respect, trust, affection and communication are cornerstones of a mature love," Watanabe said, watching Kyoko as the odd sort of dark atmosphere surrounding her dissipated.

"So…Kagami experienced only young love with Hideyoshi?"

"Yes. You portrayed Kagami as a young woman who is still very childlike and innocent. Kagami was undoubtedly spoiled, sheltered and pampered by Hideyoshi. Kagami never knew any hardships having grown up in a privileged environment."

"And after the plane crash, Kagami decides to take over Hideyoshi's responsibilities and matures," Kyoko said, understanding what Watanabe was saying.

"Exactly; not only that but she starts deciding things on her own, she starts evolving from this sheltered entitled woman to someone more proactive about her life and the direction it takes. And the first person she tells her new life plan to is…?"

"Katsutoshi. She trusts him, and he's been able to make her come to terms with her loss."

"That's right; even though Kagami only had a young love with Hideyoshi, he was a large part of her life so of course she feels that loss and is heartbroken about it. While they felt deeply for each other, they never had to lean on each other to get through trials and hardships. It's easy to love someone when times are easy, but it's a different and more lasting kind of love that is able to make it through various trials and hardships."

"But I think if Hideyoshi hadn't been in a plane crash and they'd married, they would have been happy together. So why do they only have a puppy love?"

"You're right; to a certain extent Kagami had a mature love with Hideyoshi. Just like everything else, love isn't black and white; there are many shades of gray as well," Watanabe said. He sat in silence, watching as Kyoko absorbed all he had said. At the sound of approaching footsteps, Kyoko and Watanabe looked up to see Ren walking towards them.

"Mogami-san, they'll be ready to film soon," Ren said when he reached them.

"Ok, I should probably have my makeup retouched," Kyoko said. "Watanabe-san, thank you very much for your help."

"You're welcome Kyoko-chan," Watanabe said, noticing the fleeting look of hurt surprise that crossed Ren's face.

"Thanks for coming to get me Tsuruga-san, I lost track of time," Kyoko said.

As they both turned to head towards the stage, Watanabe stopped them with a question. "Kyoko-chan, Tsuruga-kun, why do you both still speak so formally? You've known each other for a while now right? I'm sure Kyoko-chan wouldn't mind if you call her by her given name," Watanabe said.

"No, I don't mind. But being called Mogami-san is progress. When I first joined, Tsuruga-san called me 'Love-Me girl' or 'you,'" Kyoko replied. Ren was silently bleeding from the wounds Kyoko's word had speared him with.

Watanabe chuckled at the 'nicknames' Kyoko had early in their relationship. "I see, well never mind then. Feel free to call me 'Nabe-kun' or 'Nabe-chan' anytime. Calling each other slightly informally makes for a friendly work environment don't you think?"

Kyoko couldn't keep back a laugh at the thought of calling the veteran actor 'Nabe-chan.' Likewise, Ren couldn't help but laugh at the lame joke Watanabe had made.

"You laugh but it makes you feel closer to address each other informally," Watanabe said.

"I'll consider it then Watanabe-san," Kyoko replied. "No, Nabe-chan?"

"I feel like I'm 17 again when a cute girl like you calls me Nabe-chan," Watanabe said giving Kyoko a playful wink.

"Be careful, your wife will get jealous Watanabe-, I mean, Nabe-kun," Ren said as he and Kyoko walked off.

"I didn't realize Watanabe-san had such a playful side to him," Kyoko said. "It's a pleasant surprise."

"That's true; people can always surprise you with different sides of their personality. Did you know Kijima is good with kids?"

"No, I didn't know, but it's not too surprising. Kijima-san gives off a laid back feeling, like he doesn't take things too seriously, so I can see how that would make him good with kids."

"What a polite way to say Kijima is like a kid himself," Ren said with a smile. But the smile soon faded as he thought about how Kyoko had sought advice from someone other than him.

"Did Watanabe-san give you advice on your problems with Kagami?" Ren asked.

"Yes, I was still having some problems so I wanted to get his opinion," Kyoko hedged.

"You could have asked me for clarification."

_I know Tsuruga-san doesn't know much about love from when I was Bo, so how could I possibly ask him for clarification about love matters?!_ Instead, Kyoko said "That's true, but I thought Watanabe-san could provide a different perspective. He's been in a few romance movies and is married so I thought he'd give a more in depth answer."

Ren couldn't really argue with Kyoko's logic but it still bothered him that she had sought advice from someone other than him. Ren had prided himself on the fact that in acting Kyoko had come to depend and, in a way, need him. However, Ren wasn't entirely sure if he was fit to give love advice. The President's words from when he warned Ren about taking on the role of Katsuki for _ Dark Moon _floated through his head. _"When you fall in love, you lose your composure as you get more and more serious. You get all worked up and you struggle without thinking about how other people think of you. You've never fallen in love for real if you can smile and let your girlfriend go like that."_

Ren recalls all the things he's done to get Kyoko to realize his feelings for her, the subtle hints and the not so subtle hints. The last time he tried to occupy her mind had ended up with him being labeled a playboy and a con artist. _ I've gotten really serious and cared little about my image, but what's the point if her image of me is negatively affected? If what the President said was true, I'll have to get even more serious and possibly ruin my image, because I'd never be able to let her go with a smile. Especially when letting her go would be the same as handing her over to Fuwa._

With that grim thought, Ren and Kyoko arrive at hair and makeup. Sitting in the chair next to her, Ren notices how flowers seem to bloom in the air around her as she sits in the chair and has someone touch up her makeup. _She still has a feminine side even if she has forsaken love,_ Ren thinks. As he gets his own makeup refreshed, Ren recalls when Kanae gave Kyoko makeup and how grateful she was. _Could that be the key to her heart? Should I shower her with makeup? _Even as he thinks it, Ren dismisses the idea as pathetic; he was just grasping at straws. However, Ren still cannot shake his uneasy feelings. He wants to secure his place in her heart and in her life before her popularity skyrockets, thereby exposing her to more actors and artists. Although the likelihood of an outsider coming in and sweeping her off her feet was slim to none, there was always the possibility.

Makeup reapplied and hair brushed back into place, Kyoko and Ren head towards the set where Director Shingai was waiting, the sukiyaki scene in place.

"I hope you two skated up an appetite," Director Shingai said.

"I'm going to gain 5 kilos at this rate," Ren says jokingly.

"If you have any complaints, bring them up with the President. He's the one who said to make sure we feed you, Ren," Shingai replied. Kyoko barely suppressed a laugh at the subtle ribbing Ren was getting about his on-set eating habits, or lack thereof.

"Maintaining an actor's body is a mark of their professionalism," Kyoko reminded Ren in a low voice.

"Grilled frogs," Ren replied. After a shared look the two actors laughed at the inside joke from when Kyoko was Ren's temporary manager.

_Our relationship has really come a long way, _Kyoko thought. _In the beginning Tsuruga-san saw my very presence in the acting world as unpleasant. But now, our relationship is much better. I'm still not on equal footing with Tsuruga-san as an actor though. I feel that he is serious in his acting with me, and I'm sure he could make me act out love…however, I couldn't live with myself as an actress if I depend on him for my role._

_Our relationship has really come a long way, _Ren thought. _We've both changed a lot since our reunion at LME. Now she's not acting just for revenge but for herself. As for me, the only thing I think is unpleasant about her is her connection with Fuwa and the possibility of life lived without her. I wonder if things would be different if I hadn't been so mean to her in the beginning; that way she wouldn't be so suspicious of my motives when I do something kind for her. Either way, progress has been made and I like to believe I've overcome some barriers to her heart._

Taking their marks on set, Kyoko and Ren slipped into character with ease, their private thoughts helping to put them in the right frame of mind.

**Kagami and Katsutoshi fall into an easy rhythm. Kagami fills their bowls with ingredients from the sukiyaki pot and Katsutoshi pours the tea into their cups.**

**"I guess it's true that hunger is the best seasoning because sukiyaki never tasted so good," Katsutoshi said as Kagami handed over his bowl.**

**"Narita-san, you make it sound like you did a lot of work when you weren't the one struggling to remain upright," Kagami replied.**

**"That's true," Katsutoshi replied chuckling softly. "But I seem to recall dragging a certain someone around the rink a few times."**

**"I don't know whom you're referring to. Perhaps you hallucinated someone due to your hunger?" Kagami said faking alarm and concern.**

**"Perhaps; but your learning curve is impressive Hirohata-san. You were skating around on your own by the end of an hour. Are you sure that was your first time ice skating?"**

**"Yes, is that hard to believe?"**

**"I'm just a little surprised. You never went ice skating with friends during junior high or high school?"**

**"No we never went ice skating. For the most part, my friends and I had other classes after school like flower arranging or tea ceremony."**

**"I see."**

**After a few minutes of eating in companionable silence, Kagami set down her bowl and chopsticks.**

**"I never would have thought I led such a sheltered life before. I've never gone to an amusement park or aquarium on a date. I rarely ate out in restaurants such as these. I didn't have to make any decisions; everything was decided for me. My world was small with Hideyoshi in the center of it. But now that the center is gone I have to start making decisions for myself. It was terrifying at first, especially when I decided to work at the company, but now it's rewarding and fun. There are things I wouldn't have had the courage to do alone, like ice skating. So I want to thank you Narita-san, for opening new doors for me."**

**"Any time," Katsutoshi softly said with a tender smile. Kagami smiled shyly back at him before returning to her meal, a little flustered. Katsutoshi continued to gaze at her, still feeling touched by her words of thanks.**

**"This is really delicious," Kagami said. "And it seems simple to make as well. I think I'll try to make this at home."**

**"You've never had sukiyaki before?"**

**"I've eaten it a couple times, but not very often. In school I opted not to take home economics. Mainly I took the same business and industrial classes as my peers. So now I want to see what I missed out on."**

**"Are you going to take classes?"**

**"Maybe later, but for now I think I'll just ask my Okaa-san or our housekeeper for cooking lessons."**

**"I see, but it might be better to learn from a professional."**

**"You don't think it's silly, do you? To learn how to cook at such a late age?"**

**"Why would I?"**

**"I don't NEED to know how to cook."**

**"But you WANT to learn how to cook. There's nothing to lose, and it's commendable that you're trying to broaden your horizons."**

**"Are you willing to become my guinea pig? Can I have you sample my cooking before I present it to my parents?"**

**"I'm at your disposal."**

**The rest of the dinner was spent talking about favorite foods and restaurants. With a promise to call Katsutoshi when she had a bento full of recipes she'd like him to try, the two parted ways.**

Director Shingai wrapped up the scene and the crew breaked for lunch. All the members of the crew went on stage where more sukiyaki bowls were put on burners. Today both Kyoko and Ren had half day of shooting since both actors had other projects to do in the afternoon. Ren had offered to drive Kyoko back to the LME offices. Before the two headed to wardrobe to change back into their regular clothes, Director Shingai stopped the two to go over the filming schedule for the next few days.

"Ren, you have tomorrow off since you'll be filming on location for your drama. Kyoko-chan, tomorrow you'll have a full day of filming. You and Kijima are going to shoot some of Hideyoshi's nightmare scenes tomorrow as well as the scenes where you learn how to cook. I know you're practically an expert chef already so you'll really have to try and look like a novice." After his two actors nodded their agreement, Director Shingai headed back towards the sukiyaki. "Good work today, you two, otsukare."

During the car ride to LME, Ren noticed Kyoko the thoughtful silence Kyoko had fallen into. "Mogami-san, are you still thinking about your problems with Kagami?"

"No. I was just thinking about how Kagami is evolving and taking an active role in her evolution; I admire her. Meanwhile, even though I am studying acting to create 'Mogami Kyoko,' I feel like I'm stuck."

"You're being too harsh on yourself. Feeling stuck and struggling is part of growing as a person. You've accepted a romantic role; you've shed your bullying typecast. More opportunities are going to open up to you, allowing you to create 'Mogami Kyoko.' I'm sure of it."

"That's right Kyoko-chan. If the President didn't think you could handle this role he never would have accepted Director Shingai's offer," Yashiro said.

Feeling bolstered by their reassurance, Kyoko relaxed into her seat. The trio made small talk until they reached the LME offices. Pulling up in front of the elevator in the underground parking garage, Kyoko exited the car.

"Thank you for the ride, Tsuruga-san. See you in a few days. Work hard tomorrow!"

"You too, Mogami-san; I hope the filming goes well for you and Kijima tomorrow."

As Kyoko's figure got smaller in his rearview mirror, Ren glanced over to find Yashiro staring at him. "Are you worried about Kyoko-chan and Kijima?" Yashiro asked.

"Not really," Ren said truthfully.

"Is it because the scenes tomorrow aren't romantic in nature?" Yashiro asked, already knowing Ren wouldn't answer his correct assumption.

**A/N: I forgot to give a shout out to my awesome beta reader ToxicLove7! Thanks for all your help. Much appreciated.  
**


	17. Chapter 17

When Kyoko arrived on set the next morning she saw Director Shingai standing with Watanabe and Kijima.

"Good morning," she said to the group.

"Good morning Kyoko-chan," Watanabe and Director Shingai said. Kijima gave Kyoko a different sort of greeting; she found herself lifted off the ground in a bear hug.

"Kyoko-chan, hisashiburi! I've missed you!" Kijima's actions made Kyoko freeze up but Kijima released her quickly.

"Control yourself, Kijima; attacking her like that just because the drama you worked on didn't have any females," Director Shingai said.

"It's a girl, so nice…they're so soft and smell so good," Kijima said as he draped an arm around Kyoko's shoulder. "Listen to me, Kyoko-chan…in the drama I play a detective and all my costars are men. I'm so glad to be filming with a girl again."

"Was it that bad?" Kyoko asked, shrugging off his arm.

"It was WORSE," Kijima sighed, melodramatically.

"I'm sure there were at least one or two actresses, as well as some female staff," Kyoko continued.

"Yes, but they don't hold a candle to you Kyoko-chan."

Kyoko gave Kijima a long disbelieving stare, enough to make Kijima sweat drop a little. "Why do I have to costar with two playboy con-artists?" Kyoko said on a long sigh.

"Two? Do you mean to say Tsuruga is a playboy con-artist?"

"He's the most dangerous one out there," Kyoko muttered darkly. "You're just a more obvious one."

"Playboy, I understand, but con-artist?"

"Con-artists are good-looking, kind, and smooth talkers."

"Kijima is definitely a con-artist," Director Shingai said.

"Yes, without a doubt," Watanabe agreed.

"Kijima and Kyoko, head down to wardrobe and makeup; we'll start filming your scenes within the hour. Watanabe-san, the set is ready for your scene," Director Shingai instructed.

"Ne, Kyoko-chan, does Kanae-chan think I'm a con-artist too?"

"I don't know."

"Has she said anything about me?"

"No; why would she?"

"I don't know which hurts more; the serious look on your face when you asked why Kanae-chan would think of me, or the fact that she hasn't said anything to you about me."

"Moko-san only has acting on her mind."

"So you two don't talk about boys?'

Kyoko was about to tell Kijima that they didn't; but realized they did talk about Ren, Shotaro, and sometimes Hio-kun. "…sometimes."

"What type of guy does Kanae-chan like?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?! I thought you two were best friends?"

"We are best friends!" Kyoko said indignantly. "We tell each other everything. Like I said, Moko-san only thinks about acting. The only time she speaks highly of a guy is if he's a good actor that she respects."

"…And she doesn't think I'm a good actor?"

Kyoko gives Kijima a side-long glance, and then shrugged in an exaggerated manner still annoyed that he had questioned her friendship with Kanae.

"You cheeky brat!" Kijima says with a laugh. He puts Kyoko in a light headlock with one arm, ruffling her hair with his other hand. "Alright, it's decided! I'll wow you with my acting today and you can tell Kanae-chan all about it!"

"Well, do your best," Kyoko says with a goading smirk on her face. As she walks into her dressing room, she smiles for real. _Kijima-san is a good actor, but not on the same level as Tsuruga-san. It's a different feeling compared to working with Tsuruga-san, more carefree and light; but I don't dislike it._

At makeup, it was explained that Kyoko would have her makeup done several times during the day. In the script, Kagami would first appear in Hideyoshi's nightmare as a victim of the plane crash and then gradually look more and more like her usual self. As Kyoko watched, she had makeup applied that made her skin look pallid, with fake crusted blood applied at her temple. Next, dark makeup was applied around and under her eyes, making her eye sockets look sunken.

Kyoko felt like a ghoul was staring at her from the mirror. She turns towards the makeup artist, who laughs at the pained expression looking up at her. "Makeup isn't only used to make someone beautiful," the artist reminds Kyoko.

"But my dress isn't torn or anything," Kyoko said referring to the gray wrap dress with flutter sleeves she had changed into.

"That's because you're an apparition haunting Hideyoshi's subconscious, so your dress stays the same throughout his dreams," Director Shingai said, walking in. "It looks good, but add some cuts and scratches across her cheek," he instructed the makeup artist. At the gloomy look Kyoko gave him, Director Shingai laughed and said "Don't worry Kyoko-chan, it's only for a few scenes."

"Looking good, Kyoko-chan," Kijima said as he sat down in the makeup chair next to her, wearing torn clothes. Kyoko glared at Kijima, which looked terrifying with her makeup.

"If you think that's bad, we haven't added the wig yet." With that ominous remark, Director Shingai left.

But the wig wasn't as bad as Kyoko imagined; it was just disheveled and gelled into a tangled mess. The overall effect was something out of a horror movie in Kyoko's opinion; her Kagami was nowhere to be found in the reflection staring back at her.

Kyoko headed out towards the green screen set. When she arrived, she noticed another actress standing with Director Shingai. This actress had identical makeup on but her hair was different; it was matted with fake blood. Kyoko and the actress exchanged "yoroshiku onegaishimasu" greetings and went up to the set as they were instructed. The actress, an extra from the plane crash scene, lay down on her mark. The green screen would show the burning wreckage of the airplane that had already been filmed outdoors. In this scene, Kijima would wander the "crash site" set up in front of the green screen and look down at the extra's body whose eyes would be closed. When he moves away, the extra would grab his leg. When he looks down it would be Kagami's body, whose eyes would then suddenly open. Kyoko watched as Kijima and the extra shot the scene; Kyoko then replaced the extra and shot the same scene, then the close-up part where she opens her eyes. The scene was wrapped up and Kijima and Kyoko set off for the next set.

In this scene, Kyoko would be visiting Hideyoshi in his hospital room. Kyoko reviewed the script while waiting for Kijima to return after changing his outfit to that of hospital scrubs. When he returned, they began shooting the scene.

**Hideyoshi lay in the hospital bed, unable to sleep. Ever since he dreamt of the crash, the woman's face would appear any time he closed his eyes. Suddenly he felt like he wasn't alone in the room. He opens his eyes and lifts his head. Standing by his bedside is the woman from his dreams. Instead of feeling scared, he feels like he wants to keep her with him. He lifts his hand from the bed, but instead of giving him hers, she simply looked down at him.**

"**Who are you?' Hideyoshi asked.**

"**You know who I am. Or have you forgotten me like you have yourself?"**

"**I haven't forgotten you. I just can't remember." A few moments of silence pass as Hideyoshi stares at the figure, trying to see the person beyond the wounds. Hideyoshi sits up in the bed and slowly brings his hand up to the figure's face. When the figure doesn't stop him, he gently brushes the hair out of her face and behind her ear in a familiar and automatic gesture.**

"**Those injuries…did you die in the crash? Have you left me behind, all alone?"**

"**I was the one left behind." With a sad smile, the figure stepped away from the bed.**

"**Wait!" But she was gone; the room was empty and the clock showed he must have dozed off for an hour. Eager to see her again, talk to her more, Hideyoshi tried to go back to sleep but did not dream of her. He did, however, manage to sleep peacefully for the rest of the night.**

Director Shingai approved of the scene and Kyoko went back to makeup to have it adjusted for their next scene. To her relief the makeup artist removed the dark makeup around her eyes as well as the blood but left her complexion somewhat pale. Likewise, her wig was exchanged with a less disheveled one but still gelled into clumps. Kagami was recognizable in the reflection, but only just barely. Kyoko rushed back to the set, where Kijima was still in the hospital bed.

**Hideyoshi lies in the hospital bed, which is propped up at a 45 degree angle, waiting for the arrival of his dream woman. He knows that once he remembers who she is, remembering who he is would come as well.**

"**You've come to see me tonight, my angel," Hideyoshi said with his eyes closed, feeling a slight breeze and a little dip on the mattress, as if someone had perched on the edge of it.**

"**Have you been waiting?" she asks. He feels a light touch brushing hair off his forehead.**

"**Yes," he responds, his eyes still closed.**

"**I'm also waiting for you."**

**When Hideyoshi opened his eyes, he sees she's seated next to his hip, her hair pulled away from her face but falling over her shoulder.**

"**Who am I? What can you tell me about myself?" he asks her.**

"**You left me so that you'd always be able to stay by my side. Do you remember?"**

"**I was in a hurry to get back to you because I knew how you worried if I was gone too long." Hideyoshi reached out his hand and touched her hair. It smelled like sunshine and wildflowers. "But I can't remember your name or who you are."**

"**You remember me; why else would I be here?"**

"**I've never dreamt of you before this."**

"**You dreamt of the crash and blocked me out. I've been trying to reach you."**

"**Stay with me a bit longer," Hideyoshi says when he fears she's about to leave. She leans forward, bracing her arms on either side of his shoulders, touching her forehead lightly to his.**

**The two stay in their position, their foreheads touching and eyes closed, until Hideyoshi's breathing becomes deep and even. The figure lifts her head and stands up, creating a gentle breeze scented with sunshine, grass and wildflowers. When Hideyoshi wakes up hours later he brings his hand to his forehead; closes his eyes and detects the scent that lingers faintly in the air. Hideyoshi's lips turn downward in a grimace as he brings his hand down over his eyes; a lone tear makes its way out from beneath his hand.**

Director Shingai tells them to redo the scene where the two sit in silence with their foreheads together, since Kyoko's hair fell into the way of a few shots and the lighting was a bit off.

When Kyoko sat back down on the hospital bed, she felt awkward having to put her forehead against Kijima's without the prompting of the scene.

"What's the matter Kyoko-chan? Feeling shy all of a sudden?" When Kyoko responded with a mutinous glare, Kijima laughed. "Come on; get in position so they can check the lighting."

Kyoko willed herself to lean her head down to touch foreheads; in fact she was struggling so much she was making a strange face. Kijima found it intensely amusing to see such a serious face looming closer and closer that he burst out laughing. _This jerk is teasing me! _Kyoko thought in irritation, and brought her head down hard against Kijima's. That stopped him laughing, but the two were now gripping their foreheads in pain.

"…what are you two doing?" Director Shingai asked.

"Sorry, sorry, it was my fault," Kijima said laughing again. Turning to Kyoko, he said, "Let's try that again, more gently this time."

Kyoko couldn't help a small smile at how good natured Kijima was about the head-butt she had just delivered and brought her forehead down to his with a minimal amount of hesitation. Once their foreheads touched, Kijima whispers "Good job," then closes his eyes with a faint smile. Director Shingai instructs Kijima to keep the faint smile he has on his face for the filming. At first Kyoko was uncomfortable being in such close proximity to a man's face, but she managed to endure it. After the scene was approved, the cast and crew took a break for lunch.

During lunch, Kyoko sat and ate with Kijima, Director Shingai, and Watanabe.

"Are you okay with today's filming Kyoko-chan? I know you weren't a big fan of what you saw in the mirror at makeup," Director Shingai said.

"I did feel like I was going to be in a horror movie."

"But you were like an angel to Hideyoshi," Kijima said.

"Why do you think that?"

"Hideyoshi had recurring nightmares about the crash until he started dreaming about Kagami."

"It seems she's accusing him of abandoning her because he can't remember."

"I think she's like a princess saving her prince from his mental prison. Now he dreams of something pleasant instead of carnage and fire. He's motivated to remember her and get himself back."

"I never thought of it that way," Kyoko said, visibly brightening at the idea.

"That was surprisingly insightful of you Kijima-kun," Watanabe said.

"I'm just providing a positive spin for Kyoko-chan. You should have seen her face in makeup, Watanabe-san. She was distraught."

Before Kyoko was able to respond, her cell phone rang. Excusing herself from the table, she answered.

"Hello?"

"Good afternoon, Mogami-san."

"Good afternoon, Tsuruga-san."

"How is the filming going?"

"It's going well; we're on lunch break now. How about you, Tsuruga-san? Is your location shoot going well?"

"Yes it is. We're on break as well."

"Are you eating properly, Tsuruga-san? Make sure you eat all of the bento they give you," Kyoko said in a very stern voice.

"…Yes."

"If you have the time to call me, you should be able to eat a whole bento."

"Don't worry; I ate the bento before calling you. I was reviewing the script for tomorrow, and happened to see the scenes you're doing today with Kijima."

"Oh, the nightmare scene; I didn't really like the makeup I had on."

"I'm sure you didn't. What about the hospital scenes, did you have any NGs?"

"No. It was awkward but we managed to get through it. We still have a scene left to film."

"I see. Well work hard."

"I will. See you tomorrow, Tsuruga-san."

"See you tomorrow, Mogami-san."

Kyoko closed her phone and smiled. _He's calling to make sure I do my work properly…it's only been one day. Maybe he's worried how acting with Kijima-san is going. Hmm, if I did the same scenes with Tsuruga-san… _At the idea of touching foreheads with Ren, Kyoko's face flushes red. The last time Ren's face had been close to hers was the time Ren had outrageously thanked her for the rose jam. _Uwah…touching foreheads is such an intimate gesture…thank goodness I didn't have to do that with Tsuruga-san, I don't think my heart would have made it, or my little minions._

As Kyoko turned back to the group at lunch, she was surprised to find all 3 of them staring at her.

"I'm sorry for taking a call in the middle of our conversation," Kyoko said.

"Oh no, it's fine. It's just you have such an expressive face. I could easily tell all of your emotions just then: amusement, contemplation, shock, and then relief," Watanabe said.

"Yes, her expressive face was one of the first things I noticed about Kyoko-chan as an actress," Director Shingai said.

"So was it Kanae-chan?" Kijima asked.

"No, it wasn't Moko-san."

"It wasn't? But you had such a delighted look on your face when you answered. Who was it then?"

"Kyoko-chan, if you're done with lunch, you better get to makeup before we start filming again," Director Shingai interrupts. "You can finally look like the regular Kagami. And you'll go right into your cooking scenes afterwards. Kijima and Watanabe-san you can take your time, I'm going to head back to the set."

"I think I'll go with you," Watanabe said.

Director Shingai and Watanabe headed back towards the set with Kyoko; Kijima had wandered off to check his voicemail and return calls. When Kyoko was out of earshot on her way to the makeup room, the two had a quiet conversation.

"Without a doubt it was Tsuruga-kun that called. Checking up on his cute kouhai," Watanabe said.

"You figured it out? I think the only one who doesn't know besides Kyoko-chan is Kijima. But that's only because he's not on set very often." After a brief silence, Director Shingai said, "I almost feel bad for Ren; he has his work cut out for him. But considering how much those two disliked each other when I first worked with them, it may not be impossible."

"I heard something to the effect that Tsuruga-kun called Kyoko-chan 'Love-Me girl' or 'you' in the beginning."

Director Shingai laughed. "Yes, he also called her 'turtle girl' when she fractured a bone. Truthfully, I still feel guilty about using an injured Kyoko-chan that time, so I really wanted to work with her again. I especially wanted Kyoko-chan and Ren to work opposite each other since Kyoko-chan hated losing to his acting."

"I'd say Kyoko-chan can hold her ground against Tsuruga-kun."

"Yes, well, Ren still has years of experience over her. But Kyoko-chan's learning curve is something to be feared."

Kyoko arrived on set a short time later in natural looking makeup with her usual wavy wig. Kijima had also made his way over and so filming resumed.

**As expected, the woman appeared in Hideyoshi's dream, looking more like the angel he thought of her as.**

"**You look more human now than before," he said, taking hold of her hand and bringing it to his face.**

"**You began to remember me, so my appearance became clearer."**

"**I don't want to remember who you are if it means you can stay with me like this."**

"**If you remember me, the memories will bring you more peace than dreams can."**

"**I don't want to lose you."**

"**You will lose me if you don't remember who you are." When she received no response, she smiled sadly. "Dreams are cold comfort compared to memories and reality. I won't appear anymore." **

**Her hand slid off his face and out of his hand as she turned away. Hideyoshi lunged forward and grabbed at her hand in an attempt to keep her there. Instead, he pulled a ring off her finger that hadn't been there before. When he looked down at it, he found a daisy ring. He looked back up to see her standing in the doorway, smiling at him before she turned away. **

"**Wait, don't go! Wait! Kagami!" Hideyoshi woke up with a start, having yelled out in his sleep. Looking down at his hand, he found it empty. "…Kagami. That's her name, Kagami. I finally remembered." After sighing with relief, Hideyoshi fell back into a restful, dreamless sleep as hope welled up inside of him. **

Director Shingai had Kijima and Kyoko redo the part where Hideyoshi pulled off the ring. Kijima had simply looked down at his empty hand so this time they used a fake daisy ring. After that was finished, Kyoko headed back to wardrobe and makeup for Kagami's cooking scenes while Kijima finished up the rest of his hospital scenes.

The rest of Kyoko's scenes went well; she had to struggle a bit pretending she didn't know how to hold a knife and cut vegetables, but managed to avoid injury. After the scene was filmed, Kyoko took food requests shouted out by staff members and made them on the set for a little impromptu snack.

After changing back into her street clothes, Kyoko met up with Kijima who was also on his way out.

"Otskare Kyoko-chan. It was fun working with you again."

"Otskare Kijima-san. I had a lot of fun today too."

"I was a little nervous about shooting with you again today Kyoko-chan. It's been a while since we filmed together and I was worried our onscreen chemistry wouldn't be there for such serious scenes. It was really important to portray the strong bond Hideyoshi and Kagami had that she would appear in his dreams and help end his amnesia."

"I hadn't really thought about that," Kyoko admitted.

"After I talked to you this morning, I had faith we could do those serious scenes because it's you Kyoko-chan; you're easy to work with and we have great onscreen chemistry. You even managed to touch foreheads with minimal hesitation the second time around. Doing something you're not comfortable with is a sign of a pro," Kijima said with a wink. "See you later Kyoko-chan."

Kyoko bowed to him as they parted ways. _Kijima-san said he had faith we could do a scene successfully because of my skills as an actress. I didn't think I'd be able to hear such praise so early in my career. But it would have meant more if Tsuruga-san had said it. _Kyoko froze in the middle of walking. _Where did that thought come from? _Shaking her head to clear the strange thought, Kyoko said goodbye to the cast and crew.

**A/N: And there you have it. A super rare 2 chapters within the same month. I think I need to allow my creative juices to refresh themselves. Until then!**


	18. Chapter 18

After Ren hung up the phone with Kyoko, he turned to find Yashiro behind him.

"Well?" Yashiro asked.

'The filming is going fine."

"But you're still uneasy about leaving Kyoko with Kijima unsupervised?"

"Not really. I know Kijima flirts indiscriminately."

"Yes, well, Kyoko-chan can see right through him, so don't worry. Hasn't she called you a playboy countless time?" Yashiro asked with an evil smirk. "Besides, Kyoko-chan isn't the type to be charmed so easily. And its better that she managed to get through the scenes than delay filming, which is what you were worried about."

_This guy…he can still see right through me, _Ren thought. _First I was uneasy about whether she could film those intimate scenes, and now I'm uneasy that she had no problems doing it._

"If Kyoko-chan becomes more used to flirting then that would be a benefit to you," said Yashiro. "Or is it that you want to be the one to rehabilitate Kyoko-chan?"

"Tsuruga-san! We're ready to film whenever you are!" A crew member called out.

"Coming!" Ren said.

"Saved by the bell," Yashiro said as Ren passed him.

Ren put the thought of Kyoko responding to Kijima's flirting on the backburner until he returned to his apartment that night. _Just because a man pays her a few words of flattery doesn't mean her heart will be swayed._ Instead of thinking about the imagined threat of Kijima, Ren recalled the real threats that were out there. _First is Fuwa, but I doubt she'd view his approaches as genuine and will be on her guard. However, there was that one moment in Karuizawa where it seemed his feelings were about to reach her…Next is that Vie Ghoul 'beagle' that seems to know how to threaten and blackmail her. He wanted her homemade Valentine chocolates, but she didn't seem to realize the meaning behind that._ When compared to Sho and Reino, Ren felt ridiculous for feeling threatened by Kijima.

The next morning, Ren and Yashiro pulled into the studio parking lot. As they exited the car, Ren recognized Kijima's car driving up and stopping nearby. To his astonishment, Kyoko hopped out of the passenger side seat.

"Good morning Tsuruga-san, Yashiro-san," Kyoko greeted.

"Good morning Mogami-san," Ren greeted. "Good morning Kijima."

"Good morning Tsuruga, Yashiro," Kijima said from inside his car.

"Thanks for the ride Kijima-san," Kyoko said.

"No problem Kyoko-chan. If you need a ride home send me a message or call," with that said, Kijima drove off while waving at the 3 remaining in the parking lot.

"I had to drop by the LME offices this morning and ran into Kijima-san. Since he was heading in the same direction, he offered to give me a ride," Kyoko explained without prompting.

"I see. What's that you're holding?" Ren asked, bringing attention to the wrapped bento box she was holding.

"It's a bento I made last night. I wasn't sure if there was going to be one provided for today so I made one myself, just in case."

Ren smiled, _that's so like her_, he thought. But he wasn't to be distracted, "Mogami-san, you exchanged numbers with Kijima?'

"Yes, he asked to exchange infrared."

"Did he say why?"

"Not really," Kyoko said, confused as to why she was being questioned about it so thoroughly. "Maybe so he can ask me for information about Moko-san like he usually does."

Ren felt a wave of relief rush through him, and managed to ignore the way Yashiro was smiling knowingly at him.

"So filming went well yesterday?"

"Yes, we finished without any problems, even with the cooking scenes. When I was preparing this bento, I think Taisho became concerned that I had forgotten how to cook," Kyoko said with a laugh. "He offered to take over but I explained why my food looked as if an amateur had prepared it."

"I look forward to it," Ren said.

"Good morning," Director Shingai said to his actors. "I see you brought a bento for the scene today Kyoko-chan. If you hand it to one of the stage hands they'll hold onto it until it's time to film. One of the producers found a location for the lunch scene so we'll head over there after you two are done with wardrobe and makeup."

As Kyoko changed into the gray suit with sea foam green blouse, she felt the usual sense of happiness at wearing stylish outfits. Although she wore nice clothes as Mio, they were mainly dark in color while her outfits as Kagami were colorful and feminine.

Kyoko was hanging her street clothes onto the hanger when there was a knock on the door and the stylist came in.

"You have such a great figure Kyoko-chan. All these outfits always look amazing on you."

"It's because you pick such great outfits Suzuki-san."

"I'm not the one wearing the clothes, but thank you. Do you mind if I take a few pictures of you in your outfits today? It's for a fashion portfolio."

"Should I put on my wig?"

"No you're fine as you are, but I'll take a few pictures after you get your hair and makeup done as well."

"I've been meaning to ask who the designer of these outfits is. I don't see any labels; only sewn images of a jasmine flower."

"It's my friend Jasmine. She's a designer for the Rudretina brand. All the suits are samples; that's why I want to take pictures. If the clothes are approved, they'd get the Rudretina brand label on them."

"They're very nice. All the business suits have been professional but still feminine."

"Jasmine will be so glad to hear that! I thought the designs would fit Kagami's image. Her personality still comes across even though it's a business suit."

"Have the casual clothes been designed by Jasmine-san as well?" Kyoko asked as they walked towards makeup.

"No, those were regular Rudretina clothes."

"I think it'd be interesting if Jasmine-san created a more casual line too. Things like what Kagami wore when she went out with Hideyoshi. A sort of dressy casual for when she only needs to do paperwork in the office; not jeans but not suits either."

"That's not a bad idea."

While Kyoko had her make up done, Suzuki was on her phone sending a text message about Kyoko's suggestions to her friend Jasmine. As Kyoko headed towards the set, Suzuki fell into step next to her. "Jasmine would like to meet you during lunch time if that's alright with you? She wants to see her clothes on a real person and see if she can get some more inspiration that way."

"I'd be happy to meet with her, but I don't know how much inspiration she could get from me."

"I wouldn't say that. You have a good figure and your own sense of style. Even if you were wearing your Love-Me uniform, Jasmine could get inspiration to dress you in something else entirely."

"Yes, I'm sure that's the common reaction to my Love-Me uniform. It's deemed as an eyesore by everyone," Kyoko muttered darkly.

"I meant that Jasmine has a great eye for fashion and everyone is her model. A lot of the designs she creates has been inspired by office ladies and flight attendants in an attempt to dress them in something that would be more flattering. I have a feeling you'll spark her creative side." Suzuki went off the clear her friend Jasmine's visit with Director Shingai and security.

Kyoko reached the set and pulled out her script to review her lines but simply flipped the pages of the script distractedly. Yashiro noticed the heightened color in Kyoko's cheeks and her quiet restlessness and came over.

"Are you okay Kyoko-chan? You seem distracted," Yashiro said.

"I'm fine. I was talking to Suzuki-san and she said that the designer of my suits wants to meet me."

"Does she want you to be your model?"

"No, of course not; Suzuki-san said that I might inspire Jasmine-san, but I don't think that's possible."

"Why not? You have a remarkable power over people," Yashiro said, thinking about the emotional roller coaster Ren has been on due to Kyoko.

"How do you mean?" Kyoko asked.

"Well you got Ruriko-chan to start acting professionally again on one of your first Love-Me assignments. And Maria-chan certainly has been helped by you as well."

"That's right...I wonder how Ruriko-chan is doing?" Kyoko said in a bemused way. Director Shingai had just walked up as she said this and gave a guilty flinch at the name, remembering how he had played the two actresses against each other.

"So it seems you're going to have a visitor today, Kyoko-chan," Director Shingai said, changing the topic. "Are you branching into modeling like Ren?"

"No."

"That's a shame. I think it'd be a good opportunity for you. You're getting better known and if you became a model it's another way to get recognition. Your face would be on billboards and in magazines so you're in the public eye."

"That's true," Kyoko admitted thoughtfully. "But Jasmine-san just wants to see the clothes on me and to talk to me about it."

"It sounds like she's trying to see if you'd be a good model for her line," Director Shingai pointed out. Kyoko couldn't argue against his logic. As she mulled the idea of modeling in her head, Ren had walked up to the group. "Good timing, Ren. As Kyoko-chan's mentor why don't you encourage her to accept a modeling offer," Director Shingai said.

"You received a modeling job offer Mogami-san?" Ren asked.

"No, not really" Kyoko replied, unsure. She wasn't 100% sure it was a modeling offer but the idea had grown on her quickly. "Suzuki-san's friend Jasmine-san designs the outfits I've been wearing and wants to meet me."

"That'd be a good opportunity for you. Modeling could open new doors since everyone in the public, as well as entertainment world would see the advertisements," Ren said. "Which brand does Jasmine-san work for?"

"Rudretina."

"They're a fairly high end brand name with retailers everywhere, so people could associate you with the image Jasmine-san creates for her line. This is a very rare opportunity Mogami-san, you shouldn't let it pass."

Kyoko gives a nod of assent and Director Shingai ends the conversation by telling them to get ready for their scene. Both Kyoko and Ren take their positions.

**Kagami sits in her office, chin cradled on top of her intertwined fingers, staring down at the bento box on her desktop; she glances at the phone on her desk then heaves a sigh.**

"**Narita-san said he'd be my taste tester, but as I thought, it's too embarrassing to call him up and say I made a bento for him to try," Kagami said putting her face in her hands and slumping forward. Her phone rings and she picks up the receiver still slumped over.**

"**Hello. This is Kagami."**

"**Good afternoon Hirohata-san."**

"**Narita-san!" Kagami exclaims as she sits upright. "Good afternoon," she says regaining her composure and manners.**

"**I was calling to see if you were free to have lunch with me."**

"**Yes, I am free. The thing is…um…I made a really basic bento and brought it today. It should be enough for two people if that's alright with you," Kagami said in a rush.**

"**I'd be honored," Katsutoshi says in a kind voice.**

**Kagami released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and gives a relieved and embarrassed laugh. "Where shall we meet? Your office or mine?"**

"**There's a small park a few blocks from my office if you'd like to meet there." Katsutoshi gives Kagami directions to get to the general direction of the park.**

"**It'll take me about half an hour to get there."**

"**That's fine. I'll see you soon," Katsutoshi said. After hanging up the phone Katsutoshi heaves a sigh. "That was close; if she came here and let slip where I work to her father, I'd be in a bad situation." Shaking his head at the close call, Katsutoshi stands up from behind his desk. As he's putting on his jacket, Katsutoshi's assistant Usui walks in after knocking.**

"**Do you have a lunch meeting?" Usui asks.**

"**In a way; I'm meeting up with Hirohata Kagami."**

**After a moments hesitation, Usui said, "I'm not sure it's a good idea to establish a personal relationship with Hirohata Kagami. When news comes out that you're buying up her company stock in order to get on the board of executives..." he let the rest of the sentence go unfinished.**

"**I'm well aware of the risks Usui. But thank you for the reminder." Katsutoshi had never heard Usui express a personal opinion without prompting so he knew that Usui was genuinely concerned. With a nod that showed he wasn't upset, Katsutoshi walked out of the office.**

Director Shingai cleared the scene and had everyone get ready to go on location. As the crew began loading cameras and equipment for the outdoor scene, Kyoko decided to call Kanae and get her opinion.

"Just because the designer wants to meet you, doesn't necessarily mean it's a modeling offer," Kanae said bluntly.

"You're right," Kyoko said, disappointed; she had allowed her ego to get a little inflated at the thought of meeting a clothing designer.

"If the meeting goes well, she could ask you to be a model or promotional spokesperson for the clothing line," Kanae said. "But don't get your hopes up, this is an informal meeting."

"You're right," Kyoko said again, this time with conviction.

"Of course I'm right! I'll come over tonight to hear all about the meeting."

"Okay!" Kyoko said happily and hung up. Kyoko practically skipped to where Ren and Yashiro were standing near the tinted SUV they would take to the location.

"Did you speak to Kotonami-san?" Ren asked, recognizing and knowing the flowers blooming and floating around Kyoko could only be due to one person. He also idly wondered what kind of face she made when he called her.

"Yes! I was reminded that a plain girl like me wouldn't get a modeling contract so easily."

"Did she really say something so harsh?" Ren asked, wondering why Kyoko said it with such obvious affection towards Kanae.

"Not those exact words, but the general idea. It's Moko-san's whip of love; to make sure her best friend stays grounded in reality."

"I see; Kotonami-san has a point. It wouldn't be good to jump to conclusions. However, you should treat this meeting as a possible business connection and opportunity."

"Yes, I will." Kyoko couldn't help the small smile that appeared unconsciously on her face at the excitement of the interview and the fact she could relay what happened to both Kanae and the Darumaya couple this evening. Ren saw her smile and couldn't help a small smile himself.

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait. When the weather turns good I tend to be outside playing rather than inside writing. Rudretina is a brand from one of my favorite mangas, the manga Five by Furukawa Shiori, and yes I named Katsutoshi's assistant after Usui from Kaichou wa Maid-sama.**


End file.
